Pavarotti's last performance
WITH a global audience, it should have been the climax of Luciano Pavarotti’s career. However, when the star tenor made his last public appearance, at the Turin Winter Olympics in 2006, disease and a failing voice led him to fake a live performance of his trademark aria Nessun Dorma. The disclosure comes in an affectionate but candid memoir published last week by Leone Magiera, a conductor and pianist who performed at Pavarotti’s side in more than 1,000 concerts. It paints a warts-and-all portrait of the singer’s passions for food and women, his triumphs and blunders.
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WITH a global audience, it should have been the climax of Luciano Pavarotti’s career. However, when the star tenor made his last public appearance, at the Turin Winter Olympics in 2006, disease and a failing voice led him to fake a live performance of his trademark aria Nessun Dorma. The disclosure comes in an affectionate but candid memoir published last week by Leone Magiera, a conductor and pianist who performed at Pavarotti’s side in more than 1,000 concerts. It paints a warts-and-all portrait of the singer’s passions for food and women, his triumphs and blunders.
The Academy of St. Martin in the Fields had plenty before Tuesday's downbeat in Jones Hall. First, Murray Perahia, the announced conductor and piano soloist, withdrew from the 11-city tour after his doctors recommended extended rest to recover from a skin infection. Then his replacement, Sir Neville Marriner, who founded the Academy in 1959, stabbed his left hand with his baton during Tuesday's rehearsal onstage. 
Pianist Murray Perahia releases new CD of Bach Partitas after three year period of no recording. Recovering from hand injuries developing a decade ago. 