Opera star Pavarotti 'near to death after kidney failure'

 

By NICK PISA - More by this author » Last updated at 23:51pm on 5th September 2007 Comments

Luciano Pavarotti was last night feared to be close to death.

The opera star, who has been battling pancreatic cancer for more than a year, was said to be unconscious with kidney failure.

He had been released from hospital only a week ago after a fortnight of tests.

At the time it was reported that he had pneumonia, but his agent Terri Robson denied the claims and said he was affected by a fever.

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Collapsed kidneys: the Opera star is unconscious at home in Italy surrounded by friends and family

 

Last night Italian TV reports said his condition had 'worsened considerably' and he was at home in Modena with his wife Nicoletta, 37, and daughter Alice, three.

71-year-old tenor was in a 'very grave condition' and unconscious after his kidneys had stopped working.

He was released from Modena hospital on August 25 and left in the early hours of the morning through a service exit to avoid waiting photographers.

He was admitted to hospital weeks after his daughter Giuliana said in an interview he was 'close to death' and spending time playing cards with his friends and family.

News of his deterioration came hours after he was given a special award for cultural excellence by Italian culture minister Francesco Rutelli.

A statement in his name said: "This award fills me with pride and joy and it crowns my long career during which I have had the privilege to spread Italian culture throughout the world."

Announcing the award, Rutelli said the tenor was "fighting a major battle against a terrible illness with the same determination with which he became a leading world figure through his formidable career".

His words were seen by many as a sign the end was near.

Born in Modena on October, 12, 1935, the young Pavarotti preferred football to music.

But his opera lover father inspired his choice of career and his professional debut came in 1961, in one of the great tenor roles, Rodolfo in Puccini's La Boheme, at the opera house in Reggio Emilia. After Italian success came engagements in Amsterdam, Vienna, Zurich and London.

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Legend: Pavarotti is considered one of the greatest tenors of his generation

 

It was in America in 1972 that he produced one of his legendary performances. In La Fille du Regiment at New York's Metropolitan Opera, he sang nine effortless high Cs - causing the audience to erupt in a frenzied ovation.

Football, his first love, would lead to worldwide fame when he took part in one of the most remarkable classical concerts of recent times during the 1990 World Cup - as one of the Three Tenors.

With Jose Carreras and Placido Domingo, Pavarotti was broadcast around the world singing a selection of famous arias and popular songs.

His 1992 concert in London's Hyde Park in the presence of the Prince and Princess of Wales was the first classical concert in the history of the park and drew some 150,000 people.

In March 2004, he gave his final performance in an opera in Puccini's Tosca in New York, where he received a 11-minute standing ovation.

That is really sad news,he is a great man!!

 

Hope he recovers soon.

He died this night :( RIP

RIP!!! :(:(

that's so sad :( R.I.P. :cry:

He's a great man and an amazing singer.

RIP! :(

Aw man, that is so sad. He was brilliant. R.I.P. :cry:

He wont be forgotten :cry:

"The king is gone, but he's not forgotten" ...

listening to nessun dorma on the news gives my goosebumps