Thursday Night Music--Luciano Pavarotti singing Nessun Dorma

I just have to give a little tribute to Luciano Pavarotti--one of the great opera singers, probably of all time. Pavarotti died early Thursday at the age of 71. According to MSNBC News:

While Pavarotti moved the world with what one admirer called “the last, great voice” of Italian opera, his legacy went beyond the opera house. The tenor collaborated with classical singers and pop icons alike to bring opera to the masses, rescuing the art from highbrow obscurity in the process.

In many ways, Pavarotti fulfilled the public’s imagination of what an opera star should be. He often wore a colorful scarf and a hat, be it a fedora or a beret, and while he didn’t always have a beard, it was hard to imagine him without it. His heft — as well as a restaurant on his property in Modena — belied his gourmet appetite.

But above all, his crystal clear voice, prized for its diction, made him the most celebrated tenor since Caruso. “Pavarotti was the last great Italian voice able to move the world,” said Bruno Cagli, president of the Santa Cecilia National Academy in Rome.

So here is Pavarotti moving the world with the song Nessun Dorma, performed live in Paris in 1998. From YouTube:



Let's hope the Pearly Gates don't come crashing down when Pavarotti shows up.