Pavarotti documentary

[YouOverThere]

Since thunderstorms prevented me from hitting the swimming pool after work yesterday, I found my way to a showing of Ron Howard's recently released documentary on Pavarotti. I had read NPR's review of the film, which heavily criticized it for underplaying Pavarotti's faults and for performing more concerts and recitals and fewer operas as he grew older and for concertizing with rock musicians (he and Bono became very good friends). And, yes, it made only a brief reference to Pavarotti's short-term flings (though his 2 long-term affairs, the second of which became a marriage, were featured prominently) and his penchant for cancelling performances. Given that the film was underwritten by the Pavarotti Foundation, there was no way that the film was going to give a harsh portrayal of Pavarotti. Still, I found it gave some insight into what made Pavarotti Pavarotti, which (some might say unfortunately) included his perpetual boyish outlook as well as the trauma of, as a boy, witnessing suspected spies and resistance fighters hanged during World War II.

On the other hand, I was not aware of all of the charity fundraising the Pavarotti did. Nor did I realize that Pavarotti and Placido Domingo were something of friends before the Three Tenors came into being (and the role that Zubin Mehta played in helping to make the Three Tenors happen).

But forget about all that. The documentary included some incredible snippets from Pavarotti's performances. I found myself alternately wanting to stand and applaud and nearly crying from the sheer beauty of the singing. That alone made it worth paying to see.

[dirac]

Thanks, YouOverThere. I certainly intend to see this.  I enjoyed the Great Performances documentary "Pavarotti: A Voice for the Ages," which is repeated regularly in my locality. although interest waned once it entered the Years of Schlock. It didn't go into his private life much, which is just as well by me -- egomaniac superstar dumps wife of many decades for his pretty and much-younger assistant, stop the presses. 

I would hope there was some exploration of what made his voice special.

 

[YouOverThere]

7 hours ago, dirac said:

I would hope there was some exploration of what made his voice special.

 

Pavarotti claimed that it was from eating lots of pasta.

[Helene]

He also always said that his father was a better singer.

[dirac]

There's some footage of Pavarotti singing with his father in the PBS documentary. Not sure that I would go as far as Pavarotti, based on that, but his father could certainly sing.

I meant more along the lines of what kind of tenor he was, what made him different from other with some of the same capacities, his musicianship or lack thereof.

[YouOverThere]

After seeing this twice, the thing that most stood out for me was that even with Pavarotti there was a bit of good fortune that might well have made a difference in how his career unfolded. When he was 30, he managed to get a gig doing a tour with Joan Sutherland, who wanted a tenor of a specific height, and it was on this tour that Sutherland taught Pavarotti about proper breath control. Pavarotti's career took off after the tour.

[dirac]

I recall an interview with Sutherland where she mentioned his height. Evidently she was accustomed to towering over her tenors and Pavarotti was a refreshing change. 

It's rather sad to compare the tall handsome young man of his earlier years with the blob of his later ones. 

[Helene]

I was lucky to have heard him in the '70's.  If I remember correctly, the first time was at the Garden State Arts Center in Holmdel, NJ where he guested with the New Jersey Symphony under Henry Lewis.  He sang a few arias; my aging brain remembers "Che gelida manina" and "La donna e mobile"   I'm not sure if I heard him first in opera -- he was a fabulous Rodolfo and Tonio in La Fille du Regiment with Joan Sutherland (and Richard Bonynge conducting).  But it was really as a recitalist that he grabbed me: except for a couple of arias during the printed program of each recital -- his encores were almost all arias -- he mostly sang Italian art songs and Neapolitan songs.  My mother bought tickets to one for my father and me for my 16th birthday present, by far the best, best birthday present I've ever received.

What I most loved about his early recitals was how he sang each song as a jewel, as if it was the first and last song he would ever sing.  I understand the criticisms particularly in his mid-late career that he wasn't much of a musician, but his early recitals belie that, especially the Respighi.  I'm not sure what was the chicken and what was the egg, but I vastly preferred his recitals when his accompanist was Eugene Kohn.  Once he paired with John Wustman, I felt like he started to rush through things, and, around that time, he had his first bout with vocal issues.

When his voice was healthy, it was pure gold, and that set him apart from singers who had deeper musicianship in opera.  There was always grumbling about the unfairness of him having been blessed with such an instrument, but being unwilling to work as hard as the others.  But he'd open his throat, and the sound, which was huge, would create an immediate, visceral reaction among many, many people, and I was one of them.  He really had to be heard live in his prime.  

He was also a performer who wanted the audience to love him in a way that was more blatant, if not more actual, than any other classical performer I've ever seen.  I mean Liza Minelli-esque levels of wanting the audience to love him.   He was a big bearish manchild when he sang recitals, the big smile, the arms held wide with the handkerchief hanging from one hand.   Some musicians have charisma and capture the public's imagination, regardless of their talent, and it helps to have something distinctive that people remember.  And it helped to have Breslin on his side, at least for a good while.

No one tied up Domingo and Carreras and forced them into the Three Tenors.

I still find his lip-synched performance to his own recording of "Nessun Dorma" for the Torino Olympics, made days before the ceremony, to be extremely moving and beautifully sung, with that unmistakable ring.

 

[dirac]

Unwilling to work as hard, not knowing the words, lipsynching - yeah, I can understand why some of the grapes would be sour. That said, many singers would have fallen over themselves to have Breslin do for them what he did for Pavarotti, but it wasn't just a case of  Breslin waving a magic wand - Pavarotti may have played to the crowd, but the warmth and charisma were real.

I don’t think anyone has suggested they did (?) The original Three Tenors concert was for charity and naturally all three had understandable reasons for wanting to cash in on the subsequent furor.  Carreras and Domingo were said to be upset because Pavarotti got paid a fat sum under the table, which if true would be a reasonable reason for peevishness. Needless to say, the payment arrangements for future Three Tenors projects were different.

The desire to be adored by the masses can be unhealthy. I wonder if the Lovable Fat Guy image sort of took over, to his detriment in all kinds of ways. YouOverThere, did "Yes, Giorgio" get a mention?

Quote

What I most loved about his early recitals was how he sang each song as a jewel, as if it was the first and last song he would ever sing.

That's lovely, tha;nk you. Did anyone else see him live - early, late, whenever?

[Helene]

Considering that he was dying of pancreatic cancer, and the ceremony in Torino was in the freezing cold, I don't take criticisms of his lipsynching for that performance at all seriously.

Pavarotti is usually associated with the cheesiness of the Three Tenor concerts, while Domingo and Carreras get off with nary a scratch, even though it was clearly a commercial enterprise and hardly their finest artistic hour.  Taking the money and running was a smart thing, though and a lot of people were exposed to opera arias through those concerts.  (Carreras sang in Seattle for the re-opening of Key Arena to show his appreciation to the city where he received the successful cancer treatment.  Acoustically, it was a barn, and I never heard him sing live in an opera house, unlike Domingo, whom I heard many times at the Met.)

[dirac]

 Professional performers lipsynching when they are purported to  be performing live is IMO not a Good Thing, regardless of how many do it and/or get away with it. Others may disagree.

Carreras' voice  was never the same after his illness. Few people wanted to say so publicly in so many words for obvious reasons.

A lot of privileged men have gotten away with murder under the protective rubric of "manchild," I guess Pavarotti was among them. 

[Mashinka]

There is a 1964 Glyndebourne recording of Pavarotti with Gundula Janowitz in Idomeneo singing the role of Idamante, not usually a tenor role.  It gives a wonderful idea of the young Pavarotti and in many ways it was this performance that kicked off his career.  He had impressed so many people that when a last minute replacement was needed for a TV programme that was to supposed to feature Di Steffano, Pavarotti was rushed in to replace him.  The rest is history.

[YouOverThere]

16 hours ago, dirac said:

I recall an interview with Sutherland where she mentioned his height. Evidently she was accustomed to towering over her tenors and Pavarotti was a refreshing change. 

It's rather sad to compare the tall handsome young man of his earlier years with the blob of his later ones. 

Having not known anything about Pavarotti's early years, I was massively surprised to learn that he had to choose between a singing career and being a soccer goaltender. Apparently, he was good enough as a youth that a professional soccer career was not an implausible goal.

[Marta]

19 hours ago, dirac said:

The desire to be adored by the masses can be unhealthy. I wonder if the Lovable Fat Guy image sort of took over, to his detriment in all kinds of ways. YouOverThere, did "Yes, Giorgio" get a mention?

That's lovely, tha;nk you. Did anyone else see him live - early, late, whenever?

I saw him live twice in the early 80s,  in Ernani at the Met and in a recital. Both were unforgettable, thrilling.  The voice was so beautiful, so expressive, and the diction flawless, every word intelligible.

No "Yes, Giorgio" was not mentioned.  The documentary was really fantastic.   Although I knew most of the facts, I thought it was extremely well done and Pavarotti's own words were very welcome.  I thought his dedication of an aria to Lady Diana was touching and they really seemed to have a rapport.

[dirac]

Thank you, Marta.

[YouOverThere]

I was left with a couple lingering questions:

- There are 2 people who are still alive who had some importance in Pavarotti's career but did not appear in the documentary: the conductor Richard Bonynge, who was Joan Sutherland's husband, and the soprano Mirella Freni, whom Pavarotti knew as a child and who sang with Pavarotti at several important events, including his La Scala debut. Were they not interested in participating, not in good enough health, edited out for film length reasons, or did their opinions not fit with the narrative?

- Pavarotti's eldest daughter played a much smaller role than his 2 other adult daughters. Again, was this to keep the film shorter or was it because she didn't fit in with the narrative?

[Marta]

4 hours ago, YouOverThere said:

I was left with a couple lingering questions:

- There are 2 people who are still alive who had some importance in Pavarotti's career but did not appear in the documentary: the conductor Richard Bonynge, who was Joan Sutherland's husband, and the soprano Mirella Freni, whom Pavarotti knew as a child and who sang with Pavarotti at several important events, including his La Scala debut. Were they not interested in participating, not in good enough health, edited out for film length reasons, or did their opinions not fit with the narrative?

- Pavarotti's eldest daughter played a much smaller role than his 2 other adult daughters. Again, was this to keep the film shorter or was it because she didn't fit in with the narrative?

I wondered the same about Freni.  I didn't think of Bonynge.  I would be shocked if Freni had negative comments about Pavarotti though.  Did you think the narrative was deliberately leaving out criticism?  I did not but certainly the director seemed admiring of and awed by Pavarotti's gifts.

[YouOverThere]

16 hours ago, Marta said:

Did you think the narrative was deliberately leaving out criticism?  I did not but certainly the director seemed admiring of and awed by Pavarotti's gifts.

I wouldn't consider the documentary to be a balanced biography of Pavarotti. I think that Ron Howard was pushing a live big, go for your dreams, ignore the critics angle, and didn't want to spend too much time on the negatives. But I don't think that makes it a bad movie; I certainly enjoyed it enough to watch it more than once.

[dirac]

From what I've read Howard knew little or nothing of opera before he made the picture. This could be helpful - a pair of fresh eyes - or it could make it more difficult to discriminate.

 

[dirac]

“Pavarotti” is now playing on Showtime. The split from Adua was handled better than I expected – the pain and family dissension may have been glossed over but was still evident.

 The movie gets off to a promising start with footage of a young Pavarotti and his family unseen by me, and singers discussing his voice and the qualities peculiar to the tenor. Overall, however, I thought there was not enough music and too much emphasis was placed on the later and least edifying portion of Pavarotti’s career. Howard has a weakness for celebrities – too much Bono and Di for my taste. We do hear from Anne Midgette, but her commentary isn’t given much weight. The pacing is also off – Pavarotti receives his fatal diagnosis and then it seems like forever before he actually buys the farm.

As YouOverThere noted, two important witnesses, Bonynge and Freni, are not heard from, not even in old clips.

Still, I enjoyed it for the most part and recommend it, although I preferred the PBS documentary. Has anyone else seen it?

[Marta]

On 1/2/2020 at 1:32 PM, dirac said:

“Pavarotti” is now playing on Showtime. The split from Adua was handled better than I expected – the pain and family dissension may have been glossed over but was still evident.

 The movie gets off to a promising start with footage of a young Pavarotti and his family unseen by me, and singers discussing his voice and the qualities peculiar to the tenor. Overall, however, I thought there was not enough music and too much emphasis was placed on the later and least edifying portion of Pavarotti’s career. Howard has a weakness for celebrities – too much Bono and Di for my taste. We do hear from Anne Midgette, but her commentary isn’t given much weight. The pacing is also off – Pavarotti receives his fatal diagnosis and then it seems like forever before he actually buys the farm.

As YouOverThere noted, two important witnesses, Bonynge and Freni, are not heard from, not even in old clips.

Still, I enjoyed it for the most part and recommend it, although I preferred the PBS documentary. Has anyone else seen it?

I saw it and enjoyed it a lot. Even though there aren't many surprises if you've already been a Pavarotti fan for eons as I have, there is some new footage.  Howard is not the ideal choice to direct the best doc. on Pavarotti, nor does he know much [anything?] about music but I think the film is  well done and I recommend it.  I wondered too why Freni or others  who sang with LP,  Domingo and Carreras to name the most obvious, were not interviewed. Let's face it, we don't know why. Maybe Freni thought there wasn't much to add, or maybe it was too personal. Bonynge and others may not have been invited, and many who sang with him are dead.  I agree that the PBS doc. was excellent.

[dirac]

Thanks, Marta. I believe Domingo and Carreras were both interviewed, although they weren't shown at great length (?)

[Marta]

13 minutes ago, dirac said:

Thanks, Marta. I believe Domingo and Carreras were both interviewed, although they weren't shown at great length (?)

I think you're right. I saw it in June and don't remember all the interviewees.  Too bad some/more of the sopranos he sang with weren't in it but some are dead, others  perhaps not familiar enough names.