Famous opera singer Luciano Pavarotti died in 2007 at the age of 71. Six months later, his widow, Nicoletta Pavarotti, established a foundation in his name to keep his memory alive and bring opera to more people, as he always tried to do. She’s in Naples this week and next for the Opera Naples Festival Under the Stars. On March 3, she’ll appear at the Wang Opera Center to share details of her life with the famed tenor.
“Monday night will be my experience next to Luciano from a career point of view, and my vision of what Luciano felt towards the opera world and towards the pop world sometimes, and towards even the humanitarian aspect that he always wanted to bring as first for him, was quite a priority for him as a humanitarian,” said Pavarotti prior to Tuesday’s press conference opening Festival Under the Stars.
As president of the Luciano Pavarotti Foundation, Nicoletta Pavarotti has forged a relationship with Artistic and Music Director Ramon Tebar. The result is an academy at Opera Naples, as well as the recent revival of the international voice competition that her late husband started in Philadelphia in the 1980s. Held in January at the Bower School of Music at FGCU, the voice competition went so well that plans are underway to make it an annual Naples-Fort Myers event.
“The jury was really high level, and this is really a great starting point that gives us the possibility to mention a second edition and future editions of this special competition dedicated to the singer that wanted to bring opera to everyone,” Pavarotti remarked.
On March 3, Nicoletta Pavarotti will not only reflect upon her adventures with her late husband, but also her legendary management of the Pavarotti & Friends benefit concerts, which have attracted such top talent as Lionel Richie, Elton John, Sting and U2.
“So we speak about Pavarotti & Friends, about the work that the foundation brings on, about what Luciano thought about young generations of singers and what for him was important for a singer to start with,” Pavarotti added.
“Reflections from Nicoletta Pavarotti” starts at 7 p.m. in the Wang Opera Center.
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“Reflections Under the Stars” takes place against the backdrop of the Luciano Pavarotti Foundation’s celebration of the 90th anniversary of Luciano Pavarotti’s birth.
This is the fifth year of the Opera Naples Festival Under the Stars. In addition to “Reflections from Nicoletta Pavarotti,” the festival includes performances of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute,” Puccini’s “La Boheme” and Gilbert & Sullivan’s “The Mikado” in Cambier Park. Gulfshore Ballet will give two performance of Tchaikovsky’s “Sleeping Beauty” ballet in the Wang Opera Center on March 15 at 2 and 6 p.m.
Nicoletta Pavarotti also shared her reminisces about her late husband with double Oscar-winning director Ron Howard for a documentary, "Pavarotti," that aired in 2019.
Support for WGCU’s arts & culture reporting comes from the Estate of Myra Janco Daniels, the Charles M. and Joan R. Taylor Foundation, and Naomi Bloom in loving memory of her husband, Ron Wallace.