Three Things About Luciano Pavarotti

Here are three things you may not know about the late Luciano Pavarotti:

1. His first great dream was to become a football (soccer) goalkeeper. He played throughout school but his parents urged him to give up his dream and become a teacher, which he did. Later, he convinced them he w0uld like to pursue music, which his father (an amateur tenor himself) agreed to only reluctantly. As it turned out, football impacted his life in an unexpected way: it was his performance of “Nessun dorma,” from Puccini’s Turandot, turned into a theme song for the BBC coverage of the 1990 FIFA World Cup, that rocketed him to world fame and led to the first Three Tenors concert, held on the eve of the 1990 World Cup Final (Three Tenors performed at the three subsequent FIFA finals as well).
2. He never learned to read music. He had been singing in church choirs with his father since Luciano was nine, and it was winning an international competition in 1955, in Wales, as part of the Corale Rossini that gave him the final push to pour all his passion into his vocal career.
3. He was deeply committed to humanitarianism and often gave back by putting on benefit concerts for a variety of important causes, from helping earthquake victims, to those suffering from war, to land mine eradication and more.

Pavarotti also founded, in 1981, the Luciano Pavarotti International Voice Competition, performing with the winners. At its height (the competition repeated every few years), it regularly had 1,500 applicants from over 25 countries. Its goal was to foster the career development of promising young opera singers worldwide by providing a platform where they can be heard by a panel of industry professionals and compete for artistic contracts that will significantly further their careers. 

The competition now lives on through The Luciano Pavarotti Foundation Opera Naples International Voice Competition. In January of 2025, dozens of the world’s most promising opera stars (maybe even one who once dreamed of being a football star) will descend on Naples, Florida to compete for the top honors. Those who win will perform at a special concert in Naples, and then, on March 1, at Festival of the Arts Boca.

Join us, won’t you?