What Pavarotti's voice will prove to be like now he's 70 years old is in some senses irrelevant. He's one of the genuinely great, a living treasure. And however much we may smile at him at times, old showman that he is, we ought to love him as well. The world will be poorer when he's gone.
Look again at that Paris Three Tenors DVD, and notice how at the end Pavarotti shows himself as, in the best possible sense, the eternal child. When the crowd is roaring in front of them and the others are clutching their bouquets and clapping back, he can be observed turning away from it all, innocent that he is, looking backwards over his shoulder, and watching the fireworks.
Performance notes:
Luciano Pavarotti's Farewell World Tour (帕華洛帝世界巡迴告別演唱會) is at Taichung Stadium (台中體育場), 271, Lixing Rd, Taichung City (台中市力行路271號), on Wednesday, Dec. 14. Tickets were still available at the time of writing at NT$1,500, NT$2,000, NT$3,000 and NT$5,000, from ERA outlets.
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