Music

Luciano Pavarotti

A baker's son who sold insurance while studying voice; nine high Cs made him a phenomenon.

Born: 1935 · Modena, Italy
Roots: Italian, from Emilia-Romagna
Family: Working class; His father was a baker with a fine tenor voice and paralyzing stage fright; his mother worked in a cigar factory.
Education: Teacher training; two years as an elementary schoolteacher
Started with: A baker's records; His father filled the house with opera recordings; seven years of voice study earned him nothing at all.
Affiliations & societies: None documented.; Information only — claims like these are often unverifiable and may be wrong.

The pathway

1955 · age 19
Choir gold in Wales
Travels with his father in Modena's male choir to the Llangollen Eisteddfod; the win convinces him to sing.
1961 · age 25
Competition win, stage debut
Rodolfo in La Bohème after years of teaching school and selling insurance to fund lessons.
1966 · age 30
Nine high Cs
La Fille du Régiment at La Scala; the nickname 'King of the High Cs' follows him to the Met.
1972 · age 36
Seventeen curtain calls
The Met performance that fixes his American fame.
1990 · age 54
The Three Tenors
The Rome World Cup concert; its album becomes the best-selling classical record in history.
2007 · age 71
Dies in Modena
His funeral is broadcast live; the Frecce Tricolori fly over.

Sources

Compiled from these references and contemporaneous press reporting. Figures are approximate; verify before relying on them.