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 Pavarotti,
Luciano (1935-�), Italian tenor, whose dramatic roles and powerful
voice have gained him international fame and a critical reception
akin to that of Italian tenor Enrico Caruso. Pavarotti became know
for a full and open vocal quality, which he maintained throughout
his range. His penetrating high register earned particular admiration.
Born in Modena, Pavarotti was raised in poverty. After many years
of vocal training and amateur performances, Pavarotti appeared in
his first opera in 1961, as Rodolfo in La Boh�me, in Reggio nell'Emilia,
Italy. His 1965 debut at Covent Garden, in London, launched his international
career. The same year he sang at La Scala, in Milan, Italy. The role
of Rodolfo became one of his most famous, with which he made his 1968
debut with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. In the 1970s Pavarotti
recorded and performed extensively in major opera houses around the
world. In 1990, as one of the so-called Three Tenors, Pavarotti sang
in an enormously popular televised concert in Rome, alongside Spanish
opera stars Pl�cido Domingo and Jos� Carreras. The live-album recording
of the concert won a Grammy Award the next year. With another popular
televised concert and recording in Los Angeles in 1994, the Three
Tenors albums became the bestselling classical recordings of all time.
Also in the 1990s, Pavarotti recorded a number of duets with popular
rock-music stars (see� Rock Music), including Canadian singer Bryan
Adams, British singer Sting, and Irish singer Bono (see� U2). Pavarotti
published his autobiography, Pavarotti: My Own Story, in 1981. In
1995 Pavarotti published another memoir, Pavarotti: My World.
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