It was with tears that I reacted to the news when I woke this morning for he to me as well as the rest of the world's opera society was an idol. To many he was an opera singer who they had heard of as being good but to us who can be classified as opera lovers this loss is monumental as that is the kind of talent his was. To keep things in perspective one could say that Pavarotti was an opera tenor in the same quality that Napoleon was a general or Maradona a football player or Jordan a basketball player or Sir John Gielgud an actor.



Pavarotti had a voice which was one of the most powerful ever heard on an opera stage any where in the world as his singing was one that filled opera halls with a sweetness and clarity that perhaps can really only be compared to only a handful of singers in the course of history.

As for myself I am a man who is an opera and classical music fanatic! This being a fact which contributes to my attending the opera on a regular basis as well as having a collection of 100 operas on DVD. This passion is also one which I share with my daughter (main character in ?The Little Opera Singer?) who decided to take up singing after her first visit to the opera. She having a voice which is a hundred times better then that of her old man who can only listen in envy of what nature never gave him.

I however can not lay claim to have always been an opera fan as that is not the case so I will go back to the time in my life when I become one. The time was a day in December of 1980 when my Italian grandmother (a once concert pianist and teacher) requested that I listen to an Italian opera singer she claimed to be one of the greatest she had ever heard.

The name of this singer unsurprisingly was Luciano Pavarotti whom I honestly did not know much about at the time other then that I had seen him in a commercial for ?American Express? which caught my eye for its comic aspect that included the maestro himself saying the lines ?I am Luciano Pavarotti, but when I travel in America, I always hear people say Luciano who? So I carry the American express?. The commercial's levity stayed with me for sometime.

My grandmother however in contrast to me was already acquainted with all the facts connected to Pavarotti as she had been listening to him since the start of his career which started in 1961. My grandmother even went as far as to compare his voice to that of her childhood idol the legendary ?Enrrico Caruso?. She having been born in Genoa, Italy in 1904 and lived till 2004.

The concert itself which introduced me to Pavarotti was a huge gala as his voice amazed even someone like me who knew almost nothing about singing. I could hear there was a difference between his voice and the ones I had heard before but I really could not place my finger on what it was. fortunately for me there was my grandmother who pointed out what made his voice so exceptional.

I remember how emotional my grandmother became when explaining. Sounding like a teacher in school when showing me how effortlessly he sang. Telling me that unlike many other singers he did not need to strain himself in order to get out that voice of his. Her explanation being that the voice came from the stomach with the head serving to give it its pitch and intonation. Another feature which she pointed out to me was how clear his voice was creating notes in the air like a bell.

In all fairness it was my grandmother who taught me at the age of 13 with the aide of Luciano Pavarotti's voice what it was that a tenor needed to have in order to be a great tenor. So much did she teach me about singing that day while watching that concert that it really made me in to the opera fan I have remained till this day, as it was her knowledge that helped me appreciate what I was seeing and hearing all the more.

That day served as my starting point to what would be a life of adoration for

the opera which continued as I learnt more and more about the great operas and composers. Naturally with time I did eventually learn about other singers but only one living whose voice was comparable to the great maestro's and that being that of his friend, (who is heavily mentioned in my book ?New York's Opera Society? along with Pavarotti and Jose Carreras). Placido Domingo

After having seen Pavarotti once I knew I needed to see him again so it did not take long for me to find an occasion to see him on stage performing live at the Metropolitan Opera House in the role of ?Tosca? in 86. Living in New York has its many advantages and one of them being that on many occasions concerts are performed in Central Park so it was without the slightest hesitation that I attended many of his free concerts. The last of which I saw in July of 93 after having taken the day of work so I could get there early enough to get a good seat or place.

This needless to say is in the past as Pavarotti is no more which is a great shame but time does go by. This process taking place weather we wish it to do so or not and just like that period in time brought us Pavarotti's talent along with those of Domingo (born in 41) and Carreras (born in 46) so will tomorrow's time bring us a new generation. A new generation in the world of opera which will not be better nor worse but different with talents such as Roberto Alagna who one can already see will make proud those who passed on to him the torch which is opera.