I grew up on Pavarotti recordings and was sad to hear of his death this morning. No trained tenor could ignore what you could learn from him - he was a master of bel canto, his voice had beauty, stamina, power and passion. I stayed away from his renditions of Calaf (the lead tenor in Turandot) and Radames (lead in Aida) and listened to older, live recordings of Bellini and the other bel canto composers. Even if the sound quality wasn't great, you heard a voice in its physical prime and in its prime repertiore. I never heard him live, since by the time I was old enough to drive and pay for my own tickets he was doing concerts for 12,000 at the DC Armory - not a venue to hear a master. One of his best recordings is his debut singing the Verdi Requiem in his home town. He was young, relatively slim, clean-shaven and sang "Ingemisco" like his was destined for greatness. May he rest in peace, and may he continue to point people's hearts to God through his beautiful voice.
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