Sep. 9, 2007
Pavarotti Remembered
Mike Wallace Looks Back At His Profiles Of The Legendary Tenor
-
Play CBS Video Video The 'Lazy' Tenor
Mike Wallace spoke with the late Luciano Pavarotti about his laziness, which the tenor said was a factor his poor health and considerable weight.
-
Video Pavarotti In His Prime
Morley Safer interviewed the late tenor Luciano Pavarotti at a stage in his career when he was coming into his prime. The virtuoso expresses an intense love for his God-given instrument -- his voice.
-
Video Pavarotti
When one of the greatest tenors talks with one of the greatest interviewers, the man behind the voice is revealed. This 2002 Mike Wallace profile celebrates the life and art of Luciano Pavarotti.
-
-
Luciano Pavarotti gives Mike Wallace a lift during their 1993 interview. (CBS)
-
Luciano Pavarotti with Nicoletta Mantovani. (CBS)
-
The tenor's alleged 300-pound-plus weight had always put extra pressure on his right knee, the one that had been operated on earlier. It made some operatic parts difficult and painful for him, but that 1993 vacation and his new weight loss had, quite obviously, made him more agile, as he took Wallace for a spin on a scooter.
At the time Wallace's first story was broadcast, Pavarotti had been married to his wife, Adua, for more than 30 years.
And Adua had learned to tolerate her husband's eccentricities. "If you see the baby, like that little boy … it's the same," she told Wallace.
Asked what that's all about, Adua said, "He's impatient. … Impatient, yes. Cannot stay concentrated more than 10 minutes."
Except when he's singing. In New York City's Central Park, a half-million fans came, for free, to listen and to be enthralled. And the concert was transmitted to 47 countries as a TV special.
Wallace showed Pavarotti that performance from nearly a decade ago, when they sat down together in Barbados.
The tenor remembered that night. "You cannot forget. Now this is a moment like you say before, it is a moment of truth. You sing like that, there will …you sing the words, they don't do that," Pavarotti said.
And there was lots of applause for Pavarotti when he marked the 40th anniversary of his stage debut, "La Boheme." It was celebrated with a concert in Modena, Italy, his hometown.
That was a banner year for Pavarotti. He continued with his concerts, in places like Boston, Shanghai, and Canada. But, by far, the biggest development since Wallace had last interviewed Pavarotti in 1993 was the fact that he and his wife, Adua, had separated. He now shared his life with Nicoletta Mantovani.
In 2002, Pavarotti was 66, she was 32. "There is 34-year difference. Not bad, huh?" the tenor said.
It was a scandal in Italy when Pavarotti, who was still married at the time, took up with Nicoletta.
Asked if she was ever worried about people calling her Pavarotti's mistress, Nicoletta told Wallace, "Well, you know, now I'm used to that. And at the beginning, I was so young that I didn't realize what was happening, you know."
There was one memorable incident involving a lady on the street. "That was at very beginning. Modena is small city in Italy. It's his hometown. So this was big scandal. And I was not walking in the center of Modena, and the lady with the bike look at me, said, 'Are you Nicoletta?' I said, 'Yes.' She said, 'Shame on you.' and started … and I was, 'I can't believe!' And I start running away and crying, you know."
© MMVII, CBS Worldwide Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Recent Segments
Scroll Left Scroll Right
Eva
"All the songs of the east speak of the love of the nightingale for the rose in the silent starlight night. The winged songster serenades the fragrant flowers.
Not far from Smyrna, where the merchant drives his loaded camels, proudly arching their long necks as they journey beneath the lofty pines over holy ground, I saw a hedge of roses. The turtle-dove flew among the branches of the tall trees, and as the sunbeams fell upon her wings, they glistened as if they were mother-of-pearl. On the rose-bush grew a flower, more beautiful than them all, and to her the nightingale sung of his woes; but the rose remained silent, not even a dewdrop lay like a tear of sympathy on her leaves. At last she bowed her head over a heap of stones, and said, %u201CHere rests the greatest singer in the world; over his tomb will I spread my fragrance, and on it I will let my leaves fall when the storm scatters them. He who sung of Troy became earth, and from that earth I have sprung. I, a rose from the grave of Homer, am too lofty to bloom for a nightingale.%u201D Then the nightingale sung himself to death.
(continued...)
(continued....)
It was a fair sunshiny day; a crowd of strangers drew near who had undertaken a pilgrimage to the grave of Homer. Among the strangers was a minstrel from the north, the home of the clouds and the brilliant lights of the aurora borealis. He plucked the rose and placed it in a book, and carried it away into a distant part of the world, his fatherland. The rose faded with grief, and lay between the leaves of the book, which he opened in his own home, saying, %u201CHere is a rose from the grave of Homer.%u201D
Then the flower awoke from her dream, and trembled in the wind. A drop of dew fell from the leaves upon the singer%u2019s grave. The sun rose, and the flower bloomed more beautiful than ever. The day was hot, and she was still in her own warm Asia. Then footsteps approached, strangers, such as the rose had seen in her dream, came by, and among them was a poet from the north; he plucked the rose, pressed a kiss upon her fresh mouth, and carried her away to the home of the clouds and the northern lights. Like a mummy, the flower now rests in his %u201CIliad,%u201D and, as in her dream, she hears him say, as he opens the book, %u201CHere is a rose from the grave of Homer.%u201D