12 October: Pavarotti

The opera singer Luciano Pavarotti was born on this date in 1935. 10 things you might not know about him:

1. He was born in Modena, Italy, the son of Fernando Pavarotti, a baker, and Adele Venturi, a cigar factory worker. His father was an amateur tenor – he'd rejected the idea of a singing career because of stage fright.
2. As a boy, Pavarotti was interested in farming and Football. His ambition then was to become a goalkeeper, although his mother persuaded him to train as a teacher.
3. As a young man he was in a choir with his father in their home town, the Corale Rossini. It was when the choir travelled to Wales in 1955 and won first prize at the International Eisteddfod in Llangollen that Pavarotti knew he wanted to be a professional singer.
4. He trained as a singer for seven years, and his mother's advice to train as a teacher came in handy as he worked as a teacher to support himself during that time.
5. He almost gave up singing, once, when he developed a nodule on his vocal chords. He decided to give up singing, and almost immediately, the nodule disappeared. Pavarotti put the ailment down to the stress of pushing himself too hard, which meant the decision to give up had been a relief. Needless to say, he started singing again, but presumably being easier on himself as he found it all came together naturally.
6. His first stage appearance was as Rodolfo in Puccini's La Boheme, in a small regional Italian opera house, the Teatro Municipale, Reggio Emilia.
7. His performance in Donizetti's La Fille du Régiment in 1965 earned him the title "King of the High Cs" with his nine effortless high Cs in the opera's signature aria.
8. He starred in a movie, a romantic comedy called Yes, Giorgio. The film was a box office flop, but did win an Academy Award nomination for Best Music, Original Song.
9. In 1990 he was able to combine his love of football with his love of singing when he performed the tournament's theme song, Nessun Dorma. His collaboration with Jose Carreras and Placido Domingo as The Three Tenors began around this time.
10. In 2004 he embarked on a farewell tour taking in 40 cities, which would culminate in his 70th birthday party. His final performance was when he sang Nessun Dorma at the 2006 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Turin. Though in fact, it was later revealed he was miming. He'd turned down the offer to appear at the Winter Olympics several times because it would have been too cold to sing. The Olympic Committee and Pavarotti compromised by having him pre-record the song and mime to it on the day.

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