PAVAROTTI’S FINAL SHOW

IT had all the trappings of a state funeral, but, like the man himself, displayed a populist touch and the drama of one last performance.

In the still of Modena’s Romanesque cathedral, the maestro lay in his black dinner jacket and tails, in full stage make-up. One hand held a rosary, the other a white handkerchief that he used to mop his brow at every show.

Among the flora near the head of the coffin was a picture drawn by his four-year-old daughter Alice, showing her father surrounded by multicoloured flowers and bearing the words: “Ciao Papa.”

The man who, in 1972, had a record 17 curtain calls at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York, who in 1990 enthralled World Cup football fans with his rendition of ‘Nessun Dorma’ and who counted Diana, Princess of Wales among his friends, seemed ready, for one final time, “to bring them to their feet.”

A relatively simple service – in keeping perhaps with a baker’s son whose first performances were as a four-year-old on a kitchen table singing for the family – began with condolences from Pope Benedict XVI.

His message said Pavarotti had “honoured the divine gift of music through his extraordinary interpretative talent.”

A message read aloud from Pavarotti’s daughter said: “Papa, you have loved me so much. I know you will always protect me. I will hold you dear to my child’s heart.”

The Bulgarian-born soprano Raina Kabaivanska, a fellow Modena resident who had worked with Pavarotti, sang ‘Ave Maria’ from Verdi’s ‘Otello’ while blind tenor Andrea Bocelli sang ‘Panis Angelicus’.”

Nicoletta, Pavarotti’s second wife and former PA, sat weeping. At the other hand of the pew was Adua Veroni, Pavarotti’s first wife, who left him after 35 years because of his affair with Nicoletta. At 37, she was half his age.

It was the first time the two women had been under the same roof for five years. They failed to acknowledge each other, even when the congregation was called upon to exchange a sign of peace.

Kofi Annan, the former U.N. Secretary-General, was among 800 mourners in the cathedral, who were addressed by Italy’s in the cathedral, who were addressed by Italy’s Prime Minister, Romano Prodi: “Italy is sad today, but at the same time we are proud. With this sad salute, Italy expresses her deep gratitude. We want to render homage to his extraordinary humanity.”

Outside, the funeral was followed on two big screens by a huge crowd and by an even bigger television audience.

As the maestro’s coffin left the cathedral, it was to the strains of his own haunting rendition of ‘Nessun Dorma’. The crowd greeted him with applause while overhead flew the Frecce Tricolori, Italy’s answer to the Red Arrows.

Since Pavarotti dies of pancreatic cancer, aged 71, some 100,000 people have filed past his coffin.

Giorgio Napolitano, the Italian President, said after paying his respects: “I wanted to testify personally to the man who carried his voice and the purest image of our country throughout the world.”

(Courtesy: The Sunday Telegraph)