Chitarra Romana Modena 1994 Pavarotti Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna [HQ]

ISRAEL MUSIC HISTORY
http://www.4law.co.il/shosh1.html

_____

From The Sunday Times January 17, 2010

Luciano Pavarotti kept daughter by deathbed

John Follain

(Marco Rossi/Matrixphotos.com)
Operatic legend Luciano Pavarotti poses at home with his daughter
Image :1 of 2The widow of Luciano Pavarotti has broken a two-year silence about the cancer that killed him, confiding that the legendary tenor had decided to keep Alice, their four-year-old daughter, by his side when he was on his deathbed.

Nicoletta Mantovani, 40, the singers second wife, explained that he had always loved Alice to the nth degree and wanted to be with her until the very last moment.

I knew that Alice was the best medicine for Luciano, she said, and I knew that for our daughter it would be important, even in future, to know she had been part of this.

Pavarotti and his former secretary, whom he married in 2003, agreed instinctively that Alice should remain beside him as the disease shrank his huge frame. They did not want her to feel cut off from her parents for reasons she could not understand.

Alice was three when the tumour was diagnosed and four when the acute phase of the illness began, and so she understood everything, her mother said. She saw her father in every situation.

Despite his weakness, the tenor continued to teach Alice how to paint, one of their favourite activities. She sometimes helped her father to eat, saying: This evening Im daddys girlfriend and Im giving him food.

Mantovani gave her account in a letter to Lisa Galli, a psychologist and close friend, who published it in When Life Changes Colour, a book about dealing with illness.

The dark period, as she called it, began in 2006 after Pavarottis final public performance at the Turin Winter Olympics, featuring his trademark aria Nessun Dorma.

Pavarotti kept telling Mantovani that he had a tumour, but neither she nor the doctors believed him. They thought his pains were due to his weight and lack of exercise. Doctors in New York found an infection in his vertebrae and operated, but his suffering continued.

After vomiting bile, he was taken back to hospital. He telephoned Mantovani, who had returned to Italy with Alice, saying: Take the first plane over, I have to talk to you.

She found him sitting at a table in his room, a reassuring smile on his face. I have a tumour, he said.

She burst into tears and he whispered in her ear: Hey, dont cry, youre the one who has to make me feel brave now.

Before he was wheeled into the operating theatre, he told her: Dont worry, Ive had everything out of life. Even if I dont come back, you have to know that I leave happy. Look after Alice. I love you.

The six-hour operation in July 2006 removed the tumour, but doctors advised chemotherapy. Buoyed by his recovery, Pavarotti was eager to resume performing.

He told her: Ill make a new album of sacred music, then Ill start the tour again ... Call our promoter, tell him that in two months time Ill be back on track.

In July 2007 Pavarotti was taken to hospital suffering from pneumonia. His pancreatic cancer was terminal but Mantovani said publicly that he would get well soon.

It was only a way of protecting him, she said. He never wanted [his illness] to be known about, or to prompt pity even for a moment. He was a lion, a fighter, and thats the way he wanted to be seen.

Looking back over their 15-year relationship, she said their rows had always been very heated: We were both stubborn and neither of us wanted to be the first to give in. But they failed to realise that his illness had put their relationship under strain.

A therapist could have helped the couple, she said, but at the time the thought of bringing yet another outsider into her home was something I really couldnt accept.

Pavarotti became so weak that, according to his friend Leone Magiera, the conductor, who visited him that August, he had to breathe from an oxygen mask. He died in September 2007 at the age of 71, an emaciated shadow of his former 25-stone self.

Mantovani also described the death of Riccardo, Alices twin brother who was stillborn. She awoke from general anaesthetic to see Pavarotti next to her bed.

Alice is born, he told her in a warm and reassuring voice. And Riccardo? she asked. Alice is born, shes beautiful, he replied.

Mantovani, who is now a Bologna city councillor, said Pavarottis death was the end of everything for her.

Today, she added, I live for memories and for Alice, the most beautiful thing that Luciano and life have given me.

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/artic...

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• ISRAEL
• MUSIC
• HISTORY

[corrin53]

En lo que me queda de vida no vere´a otro mas grande,gracias Luciano ...

[The882mel]

Perfect voice,perfect song.Pavarotti was amazing!!!

[tukilala]

Eres Perfecto , Luciano !!!!

[compositorabel]

soy un pianista argentino que rinde un humilde homenaje al gran luciano desde rosario argentina abel o roccia

[Biancazxc]

grande maestro

[LVITOLA]

Eterno Maestro

[martindogo]

Maestro........

[loveluciano1]

Thank you, Luciano was an amazing tenor and wonderful person. and this song I love very much.

[sarko1914]

thanks for sharing this amazing singer