Colleagues and friends of Luciano Pavarotti mourned his death on Thursday and recalled the tenor's extraordinary talent and larger-than-life personality.
Pavarotti died early Thursday morning in his home town of Modena after a battle against pancreatic cancer. He was 71.
Among the most shocked by his death was his 'Three Tenors' partner Jose' Carreras, who recalled the support 'Big Luciano' had given him in his successful battle against leukemia in the late 1980s.
Carreras, who was in Stockholm for work, told the Swedish press that ""we must remember him as a great artist and a man of extraordinary charisma".
Pavarotti, he added, "was not only one of the greatest opera singers, but also a true friend, a great cook and an excellent card player".
The original 'Three Tenors' concert was conceived as a means to raise funds for Carreras' leukemia foundation and as a way for Pavarotti and third tenor Placido Domingo to welcome back their friend and colleague.
The concert, directed by Zubin Mehta, was an immediate commercial success and topped the charts around the world, a first for a classic music recording.
In a statement released in Los Angeles, Domingo said "I always admired his divine voice, from its unique timbre to its full vocal range".
"But above all I adored his marvelous sense of humor. Sometimes when he, Carreras and I were performing, we'd forget there was an audience because we were having so much fun," he added.
On learning of Pavarotti's death, Mehta said "even now his voice is enchanting the whole universe, wherever he is, I'm sure of it".
"Luciano had a special aura, he emanated positivity and our meetings were special occasions I will always hold in my heart," the conductor added.
Director Franco Zeffirelli looked back at their long friendship and observed "there were tenors and then there was Pavarotti. He adored music with an almost party-like glee".
Zeffirelli added that his memories of him were both professional and personal. "Every time we'd meet we'd talk a little about the opera but then slip into complaining about our knees and other physical ailments we had in common".
Spanish soprano Montserrat Caballé said she was mourning not only the death of an "opera hero", but above all her "soul mate".
Caballé recalled how years ago when she was ill, after having a large benign tumor removed from her abdomen, Pavarotti "came to my bedside and told me not to worry because no one can take people like us away".
"I am very religious, as was Luciano, and I am certain that he is with God now. And although I am sad because I have lost my soul mate, I know we will meet again," the soprano said.
Retired soprano great Joan Sutherland said "it was incredible to be next to him and sing with him. The quality of his voice was unmistakable. You realised immediately it was Luciano singing. He will not be forgotten".
"I remember him more as a brother than a friend," said great soprano Mirella Freni of her childhood playmate and long-time singing partner.
She also recalled Pavarotti's "good advice during a life that gave us so much joy but also moments of rethinking, difficulty, indecision".
Thursday's death also came as a shock to the young tenor Pavarotti himself saw as his heir: Juan Diego Florez.
"Luciano Pavarotti has always been my idol and when I heard that he had chosen me as his successor I was both surprises and filled with joy. But living up to his example will be a great responsibility," the Peruvian tennorsaid.
TRIBUTES FROM POP WORLD.
Pavarotti was also mourned outside the world of classical music, especially by those who took part in his 'Pavarotti & Friends' benefit concerts, which helped to raise over 10 million dollars for charity.
Italian pop-opera idol Andrea Bocelli said the late tenor "was one of the few figures who have achieved legendary status during their lifetimes."
Italy's international pop princess Laura Pausini said knowing 'Big Luciano' was "one of the greatest gifts I have ever had. I'll always preserve the memory of how good it felt to be held tight in his embrace".
Elton John, who recorded a duet with Pavarotti in 1996, Live Like Horses, said "it's a sad day for music and a sad day for the world".
Bono, the U2 frontman and a partner in many of Pavarotti's humanitarian ventures, observed that "some can sing opera, Luciano Pavarotti was an opera".
The tenor, he added, was "a great volcano of a man who sang fire but spilled over with love of life in all its complexity, a great and generous friend".
