Pavarotti Tribute Heard Around The World

The world will mark the first anniversary of the death of Luciano Pavarotti with a series of concerts, an exhibit and other events, organizers and his family announced Friday.

Among the tributes planned for the celebrated tenor, who died Sept. 6, 2007, are a concert at New York's Metropolitan Opera House on Sept. 18, and an exhibit on his life, with photographs, films and costumes collected by friends and colleagues, that opens in Rome on Oct. 17.

Another concert in Petra, Jordan, is scheduled for Oct. 12, organizers said, while conductor Leone Magiera, who worked with Pavarotti for years, is reportedly planning a tribute concert in Paris on Jan. 27.

The events were announced at a meeting at the culture ministry in Rome that included Pavarotti's widow, Nicoletta Mantovani, and the tenor's longtime friend, Italian film and opera director Franco Zeffirelli.

"Luciano had a great love for life, joy and cheerfulness that we all miss," Mantovani said. "He was able to thrill everyone in the world."

Zeffirelli called the tenor "a prodigy" and said: "He was the highest example of professionalism I've ever seen."

Pavarotti died at age 71 after a yearlong battle with cancer. He had married Mantovani in 2003 and they had a daughter.

He also had three daughters from a previous marriage.

Pavarotti's charismatic persona, ebullient showmanship, and powerful voice made him the most beloved and celebrated tenor since the great Caruso, and one of the few opera singers to win crossover fame as a popular superstar.

He appeared in television commercials and sang in hugely lucrative mega-concerts outdoors and in stadiums around the world, also mingling with pop stars in his series of charity concerts, "Pavarotti & Friends."

In New York, director James Levine, who worked with Pavarotti in 139 performances at the Metropolitan Opera House, will conduct a performance of Verdi's "Requiem Mass" on Sept. 18, the opera house said in a statement Friday.

Soloists Barbare Frittoli, soprano; Olga Borodina, mezzo-soprano; Marcello Giordani, tenor; and James Morris, bass, will take part in the free performance.

"Luciano's voice was so extraordinarily beautiful and his delivery so natural and direct, that his singing spoke right to the hearts of listeners," Levine said. "I will never forget the sheer magic of that voice, but I will also remember the warm, generous, and exuberant spirit of the man."

Pavarotti made his Met debut in 1968.

By Marta Falconi