PAVAROTTI
****
Director: Ron Howard
Screenwriters: Mark Monroe
Principal cast:
Luciano Pavarotti
Nicoletta Mantovani
Adua Veroni
Lorenza Pavarotti
Guiliana Pavarotti
Cristina Pavarotti
Plácido Domingo
José Carreras
Country: UK/USA
Classification: M
Runtime: 114 mins.
Australian release date: 24 October 2019
Previewed at: The Chauvel Cinema, Sydney, on 24 October 2019.
From the moment the camera rolls at the start of Ron Howard’s wonderful documentary, Pavarotti, this depiction of the life of one of opera’s great tenors takes viewers on an emotional journey that reveals much about the motivation and humanity of the musical icon. Using home footage taken by flautist Andrea Griminelli at the famous opera house of Manaus, Brazil, on an Amazon adventure that Pavarotti undertook in 1995 because he was determined to sing on the stage where Enrico Caruso had once performed, we see and hear an impromptu aria sung for just a handful of people. It is a poignant moment and it captures the essence of this man who captured the hearts of audiences around the world.
Born from humble origins in Modena, Italy, Pavarotti was initially a school teacher and only began training professionally in 1955 at the age of 20. He first came to the attention of the Italian opera world in 1961 in the role of Rodolfo in Puccini’s La Bohème and, internationally, in 1963 when he made his debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in the same part, stepping in when the advertised tenor, Giuseppe Di Stefano, couldn’t perform. Soon, his talent for hitting and holding the high ‘C’ brought him wider acclaim and larger audiences and before long he was touring with the great diva Joan Sutherland, with whom he came to Australia in 1963. In the film he tells a lovely story about how he surreptitiously learnt a lot about breathing technique from ‘La Stupenda’. Pavarotti goes on from his early career to cover the singer’s family life, his global success and the contribution of his managers and promoters to that success, culminating with the Three Tenors concerts in the ‘90s, and then his later life raising money for his various charitable concerns with his second wife. He was a man with a big heart, a man who “was crushed by injustice” and used his voice as a tool to raise awareness when he saw it.
The documentary can be charged with being somewhat hagiographic because Howard and his editor, Paul Crowder, have chosen to paint a pretty rosy picture of the tenor’s life. There are only passing references to his at times difficult behaviour and his sexual transgressions, although it does openly discuss his long affair with the American soprano Madelyn Renee and there are lengthy interviews with his first wife, Adua Veroni, and his second, Nicoletta Mantovani. Howard, who made the music doc The Beatles: Eight Days a Week - The Touring Years in 2016, says that he was more interested in what drove the man and the inner power he drew on to create his art. He explains that, “I love characters and I’m fascinated by the way high achievers in particular are tested and challenged. With Pavarotti my question was: where did this tremendous artistry come from?” The extraordinary archival footage and the many contemporary interviews go some way to finding an answer to the question.
Howard adds that, “I … came to learn that one of Pavarotti’s most ambitious goals was to broaden the reach of his art so that more would fall in love with opera. Time after time he would go out of his way, whether it was through teaching or travelling to the heartland of America or to China, to introduce people to the power of opera. So, I also have a personal hope that our documentary might help continue that work.” In that regard, he needn’t worry - Pavarotti should melt the hearts of even the most ardent opera opponent. The artist we see in his film, and his music we hear, are totally charming.
Screenwriters: Mark Monroe
Principal cast:
Luciano Pavarotti
Nicoletta Mantovani
Adua Veroni
Lorenza Pavarotti
Guiliana Pavarotti
Cristina Pavarotti
Plácido Domingo
José Carreras
Country: UK/USA
Classification: M
Runtime: 114 mins.
Australian release date: 24 October 2019
Previewed at: The Chauvel Cinema, Sydney, on 24 October 2019.
From the moment the camera rolls at the start of Ron Howard’s wonderful documentary, Pavarotti, this depiction of the life of one of opera’s great tenors takes viewers on an emotional journey that reveals much about the motivation and humanity of the musical icon. Using home footage taken by flautist Andrea Griminelli at the famous opera house of Manaus, Brazil, on an Amazon adventure that Pavarotti undertook in 1995 because he was determined to sing on the stage where Enrico Caruso had once performed, we see and hear an impromptu aria sung for just a handful of people. It is a poignant moment and it captures the essence of this man who captured the hearts of audiences around the world.
Born from humble origins in Modena, Italy, Pavarotti was initially a school teacher and only began training professionally in 1955 at the age of 20. He first came to the attention of the Italian opera world in 1961 in the role of Rodolfo in Puccini’s La Bohème and, internationally, in 1963 when he made his debut at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, in the same part, stepping in when the advertised tenor, Giuseppe Di Stefano, couldn’t perform. Soon, his talent for hitting and holding the high ‘C’ brought him wider acclaim and larger audiences and before long he was touring with the great diva Joan Sutherland, with whom he came to Australia in 1963. In the film he tells a lovely story about how he surreptitiously learnt a lot about breathing technique from ‘La Stupenda’. Pavarotti goes on from his early career to cover the singer’s family life, his global success and the contribution of his managers and promoters to that success, culminating with the Three Tenors concerts in the ‘90s, and then his later life raising money for his various charitable concerns with his second wife. He was a man with a big heart, a man who “was crushed by injustice” and used his voice as a tool to raise awareness when he saw it.
The documentary can be charged with being somewhat hagiographic because Howard and his editor, Paul Crowder, have chosen to paint a pretty rosy picture of the tenor’s life. There are only passing references to his at times difficult behaviour and his sexual transgressions, although it does openly discuss his long affair with the American soprano Madelyn Renee and there are lengthy interviews with his first wife, Adua Veroni, and his second, Nicoletta Mantovani. Howard, who made the music doc The Beatles: Eight Days a Week - The Touring Years in 2016, says that he was more interested in what drove the man and the inner power he drew on to create his art. He explains that, “I love characters and I’m fascinated by the way high achievers in particular are tested and challenged. With Pavarotti my question was: where did this tremendous artistry come from?” The extraordinary archival footage and the many contemporary interviews go some way to finding an answer to the question.
Howard adds that, “I … came to learn that one of Pavarotti’s most ambitious goals was to broaden the reach of his art so that more would fall in love with opera. Time after time he would go out of his way, whether it was through teaching or travelling to the heartland of America or to China, to introduce people to the power of opera. So, I also have a personal hope that our documentary might help continue that work.” In that regard, he needn’t worry - Pavarotti should melt the hearts of even the most ardent opera opponent. The artist we see in his film, and his music we hear, are totally charming.
