On 29 April 1961, Luciano Pavarotti made his debut in the world of opera, playing the young Rodolfo in Puccini’s masterpiece La Bohème at the Teatro Romolo Valli in Reggio Emilia. 

To celebrate this anniversary, the Foundation created a special show that was staged on the same day and in the same place as that fateful debut, on 29 April 2011 at the Valli Theatre in Reggio Emilia. 

The show consisted of an intense monologue, a long and emotional story retracing the life of the man and the career of the artist “Pavarotti”, bringing to life his humanity, his art, his joie de vivre and his exceptionality, lived in a simple way, which made him one of the most acclaimed and beloved figures of our time, through memories and curious anecdotes.

The narrator was Giuseppe Battiston, a film and theatre actor who has given varied and masterful performances and won two UBU awards, the most prestigious award in Italian theatre.

The story was written by the talented and renowned Bolognese author Grazia Verasani, who wanted to pay tribute to Maestro in a way that went beyond a simple homage. The author had Pavarotti recount his life story to his youngest daughter, little Alice: the exposition seemed to transcend its exclusively biographical meaning to become a sort of spiritual testament, a spontaneous passing on of Maestro’s legacy not only to his little girl but to all young people, sharing with them the values he had referred to throughout his life: his love for theatre, music and others.

Accompanying and interspersing the narration were the performances of young opera singers, who took turns on stage performing some of the opera arias so often interpreted by Maestro Pavarotti himself: Giacomo Patti, tenor; Andrea Zaupa, baritone; Silvia Cafiero, Pervin Chakar, Maria Rosa Sansone, sopranos; the performers were accompanied on the piano by Maestro Paolo Andreoli.

The show was directed by Giuseppe Battiston himself (with the collaboration of assistant director Chiara Senesi), while Francesco Micheli was the artistic consultant.

The proceeds from the evening were donated to GR.A.D.E Onlus, Gruppo Amici dell’Ematologia, a non-profit association founded in Reggio Emilia in 1989 and made up of patients, family members, nurses and doctors, whose activities focus on research and assistance for patients suffering from blood diseases, within the Santa Maria Nuova hospital and in the province of Reggio Emilia.

Photo gallery’s credits: © Gianluca Naphtalina Camporesi for Luciano Pavarotti Foundation.