As a television news reporter for a New York Times-owned CBS affiliate in Mississippi, Richard Speer was sent to profile the late, great tenor Luciano Pavarotti, in conjunction with Pavarotti's concert in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Speer recalls: "Through a combination of credentials and pluck, my cameraman and I managed to infiltrate Pavarotti's rehearsal with the orchestra and Zubin Mehta... I will never forget the moment the sound check started, with Pavarotti, in jeans and a sweater, opening his mouth and 'Oh! fede negar possi...' pouring out, the recitative to 'Quando le sere al placido' from Verdi's Luisa Miller.
"Several times during the sound check, Pavarotti solicited the advice of his then-manager, Herbert Breslin. At one point, Breslin ordered my videographer and me to leave and sent over a security guard to escort us out. Later, during the performance itself, we were allowed to return and shot footage during encores. Afterwards, we met Luciano backstage. I wish I could say he was as gracious as Placido Domingo had been when I'd met Domingo two years before, but for whatever reason, Pavarotti was not in the best mood. Still, his grouchy demeanor did not dampen my respect for his artistry. When Pavarotti died in September 2007, I wrote this commentary on Salon.com."BACK TO RICHARD'S WELCOME PAGE