Luciano Pavarotti

Speaker 10:00

Hello, I'm Kirstie Young, and this is a podcast from the Desert Island Disc's Archive. For rights reasons we've had to shorten the music. The programme was originally broadcast in nineteen seventy six, and the presenter was Roy Plumley.

Luciano Pavarotti0:30

Cast away on our desert island this week is the operatic tenor Luciano Pavarotti.

Luciano Pavarotti0:35

Signor Bavarotti, have you ever imagined yourself As a r

Presenter0:39

ROBINSON CRUSO

Presenter0:40

I did d dream about this, but not imagine myself because I am a man of company and uh even if my imagination is very large, I cannot imagine myself alone for more than one day. Are you an optimistic man? Uh no doubt about that. Uh i to be a a singer at our at our age or to be involved in any artistic thing, you must be a very great big optimist.

Speaker 10:58

Okay.

Luciano Pavarotti1:07

Yeah.

Presenter1:08

Yeah.

Presenter1:09

What do you want music to do for you on the island? All the other music is the music I really like. I mean the music uh who come outside from myself and uh is going to help me a lot in this uh desert island.

Luciano Pavarotti1:45

What's the first one you've chosen?

Presenter1:46

Well, let's choose my preferred composer, for example. Is Mozart. Yes. La Symphonia Nomero Quaranta.

Presenter1:54

Symphony number forty, conducted by Carlo Maria Giolini.

Luciano Pavarotti2:50

The opening of Mozart's Symphony No. 40 in G minor, Carlo Maria Giolini conducting the new Philharmonia Orchestra. What's your second record?

Presenter2:59

Well, if the first one was my preferred composer, and just because I am a tenor, let's choose the second one my preferred tenor, kiss Caruso.

Presenter3:09

And I would very l very much to hear Laregina di Saba.

Presenter3:14

The Queen of Sheba

Speaker 43:19

Over control, Lord and deal for the world.

Speaker 13:35

Uh

Speaker 43:49

We are all

Luciano Pavarotti4:19

Enrico Caruso singing an aria from Georgmark's The Queen of Sheba.

Luciano Pavarotti4:24

Signo Pavarotti, you come from Modena, that's near Bologna.

Luciano Pavarotti4:28

Is there an opera house there?

Presenter4:29

Yes, there is a s important opera house in the past, a little less important now, but still a a theater of tradition, what we call. Anyway, my city is not famous for the for the theater, he's more famous f because we made Maserati and Ferrari car. So you heard a lot of opera as a child?

Presenter4:50

When I was a child uh my father is uh a tenor. Till now he's sixty two, his uh the voice is very good and uh we are going to record now in London in this period a religious song, Panis Angelicus, together.

Luciano Pavarotti5:04

Yeah.

Presenter5:05

And um

Presenter5:07

At that time when I was young in mm I remember my house was full of record of Gillias Kippa, Caruso, Bjorling, McCormick, all these great singers of the past. Did you have the idea as a boy that you

Luciano Pavarotti5:20

Uh

Presenter5:21

You were going to be a professional singer?

Luciano Pavarotti5:26

I'm not the only one.

Presenter5:31

But my barber, my my baker, my everybody want to become a tenor, especially when I was at my age. I remember we sang uh Serenade la Donne Mobile, for example, or De Quella Pierre. Not so romantic, but just to let the the girl hear which kind of tenor voice we have. You were in fact a teacher to start with. Yeah, well I I was a teacher when I was twenty and I went to my father and I said, Do you want me to continue to become an a gymnastic professor or do you think it's better for all of us to try to become a tenor and you know how difficult it is? And uh he said, Well, it's very difficult, but my mother like always chose. And he said we sent him to school and uh at the age of twenty six, after six years of ver very intense study, I did sang the first time. I won a conquest in Radio Media and the prize was to sing uh an opera and they chose Bohem and uh was a very good success the the first night immediately and after that I try to sing for the first time in the theater when I can choose uh Bohem for the first and after that other opera can come.

Luciano Pavarotti6:43

Now, at that time you had already made a considerable success in Great Britain, had you not?

Presenter6:48

Oh yes, yes. Uh was a collective uh uh success. In nineteen fifty five we went to Tlangotland and uh

Speaker 16:57

Uh Yeah.

Presenter6:58

With a Koro competition uh with my city men Coro called Joaquino Rossini. And this was the modern uh city chorus. Yes, and we won the first prize and was like a bomb explosion of uh fifty five people in black coats and uh still now to remind this for me is uh very very exciting.

Luciano Pavarotti7:20

Yes, your first British success. Well, that, of course, was long before your debut, which we were talking about, and that was at.

Presenter7:22

Yeah.

Luciano Pavarotti7:28

Reggio Emilia.

Presenter7:29

Regiminian sixty one, exactly six years later.

Luciano Pavarotti7:33

Yeah. Well, at that point you have made your debut. Let us break off your third record.

Presenter7:39

My third record, like I told you, is uh thinking about my house, full of tenor record, and is a special record of Tito Skipper, is uh uh Quefarosa and Sevridice from Orfeo Edevridice at the Globe.

Speaker 47:55

There we danger.

Speaker 47:59

How many draws?

Speaker 48:06

Peace for me.

Speaker 48:23

He of all right woe of earth.

Speaker 48:32

The Lord is the wonder.

Luciano Pavarotti8:36

Aha!

Luciano Pavarotti8:44

Tito's keeper singing Glux Kei Faro

Luciano Pavarotti8:47

When did you first sing in London?

Presenter8:49

A sang in London, nineteen sixty three, for poem.

Presenter8:53

and was a a big success in the theatre, with the public and even with the critics. And more than this was a public uh success, a large public success, because I was called to s to substitute the Stefano at London on Sunday night in Palladium.

Luciano Pavarotti9:10

You substituted for Distefano. He was ill, was he?

Presenter9:12

He was healed, yes. I was uh riding a horse for the first time in my life with the pain I ca I uh you can imagine. And where was that? It was outside London in the Sussex, in Branchley.

Luciano Pavarotti9:22

And where was that?

Luciano Pavarotti9:25

Right.

Presenter9:26

And uh they call me in the afternoon at two thirty and they ask uh if I can substitute this Stephanie. I say, Of course, but when? They say, Now.

Presenter9:36

And they put me uh on the train with a steak and a piece of bread and a Coca-Cola in the other hand. And uh uh somebody was waiting uh Charing Cross station. They bring they put me there and I sang and I remember very well the uh

Presenter9:54

The man who introduced me to the public said, mister Pavarotti,

Presenter9:58

was on the horse all the day, then don't judge how he's w going to walk, but judge him how he's going to s to sing, was a big success even there, and they did call me the following year.

Speaker 110:04

Did that?

Presenter10:11

like guest of honor by myself. And this was a great satisfaction. The big public did hear me. And you sang at Gleinborn too? I did sang at Leinborn even and I tried to prove to myself to be able to to go through Mozart because like I told you before he's my preferred composer.

Presenter10:28

And I sang Idamante role in Idomeneo and it was a very, very good experience. In that period uh my second daughter was born. I remember like now uh it was between the performance we have a phenomenal party and uh on the everybody on the telephone talking at home.

Luciano Pavarotti10:47

Yes. Quite early in your career you toured with Joan Sutherland.

Presenter10:50

Yeah. During my appearance here in in uh Bohem,

Presenter10:55

I did have an audition at ten o'clock in the morning, I remember, uh for mister Bonning, and uh he did accept me to sing for him in uh Miami.

Presenter11:07

Wa my was my first appearance in America. And then in the tour of Australia, it was incredible tour. Four four months together we st we stay and uh was very good for me to practic even in English.

Luciano Pavarotti11:21

Yes. And what operas were you singing?

Presenter11:23

Oh, I was singing Sonambula. Elizir of Love was my really very, very private success and uh

Presenter11:33

Lucia and Trabiata. Mhm. It was was very, very exciting. And more than everything is uh more than ten years ago than I

Luciano Pavarotti11:43

Let's have your fourth record. What's that to be?

Presenter11:47

My four record is uh the daughter regiment who remind me of the past, uh remind me of my career and when I I become uh international famous.

Presenter12:00

and um remind me a bet we have made with uh r Ricky, who is the conductor of the operating Richard Boney. And uh because before m before uh the aria of Tonio was never sung in the original key before me, and everybody did postpose one tone under.

Luciano Pavarotti12:07

With Richard Brunswick.

Presenter12:20

In a way, instead to to sing the the the C natural at the end you sing the B flat, which is much more easy, I tell you, but even m less exciting. And he says, I can do this, and I say no.

Presenter12:36

At the dress resour I sang in full voice and the orchestra was standing with applause who encouraged me very much and I sang a beautiful performance here and after me a lot of other ten or take courage and sang in in in the right key.

Speaker 112:36

As a drill

Luciano Pavarotti12:48

Good.

Luciano Pavarotti12:49

All right, we'll listen to your Sea Natural and then afterwards we'll hear just a few notes from Joan Sutherland.

Presenter12:53

Yeah.

Speaker 413:03

This hot

Speaker 413:06

At the grace of

Speaker 113:07

Yes.

Speaker 413:08

Memphis, my fascinating body, that fussy, my father.

Speaker 413:41

Uh

Luciano Pavarotti13:58

Donitzette is the daughter of the regiment.

Luciano Pavarotti14:00

How many rolls do you have in your repertoire now? Have you ever counted?

Presenter14:04

Ty not three, I must say twenty-five, something like that.

Luciano Pavarotti14:07

How long does it take you to learn a major role?

Presenter14:09

I am a long long learner.

Presenter14:14

More

Presenter14:15

I mean, take a little more than another person.

Presenter14:19

But I can sing to morrow the daughter regiment in French. I will never forget what I what I learned.

Luciano Pavarotti14:24

Only recently have you started giving recitals.

Presenter14:28

For me, it is one of the greatest satisfactions. You have to put out all your personality with music, with

Presenter14:37

Uh feeling or is contact with the public.

Presenter14:40

And it is not always easy. What about recording? Do you enjoy making records? Um unfortunately I was born in twelfth October. Then I am a Libre.

Presenter14:51

And like Libra, I am never satisfied of anything. I would like to try to to see the perfection, where the perfection of course don't exist because we are human. And uh

Presenter15:03

I would like to hear

Presenter15:05

all beautiful things. But when I hear a record of of myself,

Presenter15:10

the good thing don't come to me. Just just the l if it's one little mistake disturbed me for all the for all the recording. Where is your home now? Where do you live? I was born in Modena and I still live there. It's a very, very interesting little city. Provincial, sophisticated a little.

Presenter15:28

And the music is not uh very big, but I go to the music around the world. How much time can you spend there? Um, let's say I will spend one month, not more. Because uh, no, I did buy an house in Pesaro, where Rossini was born, in the at the beach. And I'm going to spend there two or three months a year. You have three daughters, are they musical? I have three daughter. I don't know if they are musical. I do I know they hate music now in the sense

Presenter15:55

They hate piano because is what I I ordered them to do and that's this is what they hate, but they will study. This is the only thing I I won't impose to them.

Luciano Pavarotti16:02

Yeah.

Luciano Pavarotti16:05

There's another celebrated singer who comes from Modina.

Presenter16:08

Mira Freni, yes. We are you know, we are we take milk from the same lady. Yes.

Presenter16:16

uh when we were young.

Presenter16:18

Our mother was making a cigar together and of course a lady who makes cigars don't have any money to have the maid at home and the babysitter even.

Presenter16:29

and they bring us there in a place where another lady give us the milk.

Luciano Pavarotti16:36

Yes. Both you and Mirella Frank. Yes. Right, we've got to record number five. Watch that.

Presenter16:38

And you're all afraid.

Presenter16:42

The record number five is uh what in on the Heisland will talk to me about the the future. And the future, immediate future is uh Maria Stuarda, who was recorded last year and is coming out very soon.

Speaker 417:18

Yeah.

Luciano Pavarotti17:42

A short excerpt from a new recording of Donizetti's Maria Stuarto.

Luciano Pavarotti17:47

Let's go straight on to record number six.

Presenter17:50

Is Beethoven Symphony No. six remind me when I was teacher

Presenter17:55

Um to become teacher I did present uh twenty uh pieces of music to Solfeggio.

Presenter18:03

And uh this is one of these twenty.

Luciano Pavarotti19:07

part of the first movement of Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony,

Luciano Pavarotti19:12

George Sheltey conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Could you look after yourself on a desert island? Could you build somewhere to live? A little house.

Presenter19:20

Well, I think, yes, who doesn't try to do a private house when you are a kid? You take a mug, you take stone, you go to to find the big uh plant to cover and you try to do uh an house. Of course I would be able to do this.

Luciano Pavarotti19:37

Bamoth

Presenter19:37

And I'm fishing?

Luciano Pavarotti19:37

Yeah.

Presenter19:38

Fishing, uh suppose I am not a good fisherman, I will become a good fisherman very soon.

Luciano Pavarotti19:45

Are you good in small boats? Would you try to escape?

Presenter19:46

I have escape.

Presenter19:49

Well, like I told you before, I am not a man of solitude, then I try to escape just if I am sure to arrive somewhere.

Luciano Pavarotti19:59

Record number seven.

Presenter20:03

The record number seven is uh a piece of the picture of an exhibition, and you will say the right, right translation in English.

Luciano Pavarotti20:11

Well, that's the bit the bit you're pointing at, the section you're pointing at, is Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks. Thank you very much.

Speaker 420:30

What the fuck?

Speaker 421:10

Uh

Speaker 421:12

This is the

Luciano Pavarotti21:21

Me ta conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra in

Luciano Pavarotti21:26

The Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks from Musorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. What's your last record? What's the last one you've changed?

Presenter21:33

Well, the last record is Verdi Requiem. I'll hear this record for the first time.

Presenter21:39

when I was in Australia. My wife was with me and uh

Presenter21:43

She left. Be she went home for the to the child.

Presenter21:47

And uh I drove her at the airport and when I came back I did have the very, very stupid idea to put this record on. And after five minutes I was uh crying, thinking about all the crash plane and all the thing, but still d give to me an incredible, incredible uh feeling and from that moment uh is one of my preferred piece of music.

Luciano Pavarotti23:14

The opening of the Dies Ere from Verdi's Requiem Mass, conducted by Carlo Mario Giulini.

Luciano Pavarotti23:21

If you could take just one of your eight records, which would it be?

Presenter23:24

Well, like I told you, Mozart is my preferred composer. Then uh we'll take symphony number forty, for sure.

Presenter23:32

Yeah.

Luciano Pavarotti23:32

and one luxury.

Presenter23:35

Well, I think a bicycle. A bicycle. Yes. Yes. Sand isn't the best surface to ride on. Well, I will still try to do this because uh I would like to see the the sun go up and down and for me I think is uh enough. And one book

Luciano Pavarotti23:51

Apart from the Bible, Shakespeare and Big Encyclopedia.

Presenter23:54

Well, it was not anyway my choice this, and because uh for sure if I have to choose one book I choose Divina Comedia di Dante, I have no one doubt.

Luciano Pavarotti24:02

No one doubts The Divine Comedy by Dante.

Presenter24:04

I have no one doubt about it. He's so full of everything, begin beginning with the astrology and finish with history and fin uh and the poem by himself is great.

Luciano Pavarotti24:16

And thank you, Luciano Pavarotti, for letting us hear your Desert Island Discs.

Presenter24:20

Well, thank you to giving me the opportunity to meet the public again and uh

Presenter24:27

Ancura Gracia.

Luciano Pavarotti24:29

Goodbye, everyone.

Speaker 124:37

You've been listening to a podcast from the Desert Islandists Archive. For more podcasts, please visit bbc.co.uk slash radio four.