October 12, 2022 - Good Morning! It's Wednesday, October 12.
On this day, in 1935, a baby boy was born in Modena, Italy. His father was a baker, his mother a factory worker. Growing up, he dreamed of becoming a football star (this was Italy - so that was soccer). The boy grew to be a young man and earned a degree from a teacher's college. He taught in elementary school for a couple of years and also sold insurance. An exceedingly ordinary start for a man who became, in many people's estimation, the greatest tenor in the history of tenors. Happy Birthday to Luciano Pavarotti!
Pavarotti made his professional singing debut in a small theater in Italy in 1961. But his career really began when he took the stage in New York City on February 17, 1972. He sang in an opera that featured a tenor aria with 9 "high C's". He sang them effortlessly and the crowd went into a frenzy. Pavarotti received 17 curtain calls. The rest, as they say, is history.
During my college years, I earned extra cash by playing piano for voice lessons. One of the voice professors at my university was a former operatic tenor and, every once in a while, he would demonstrate singing technique for his students. And even though he was 20 years past his prime, his voice would literally overpower the room. I had grown up around singers, but this was different. This voice was a freak of nature. A gift from God. I never got to hear Pavarotti sing in person. I can only imagine what that was like.
Luciano Pavarotti died in 2007, just a year after his last performance at the 2006 Winter Olympics in his native Italy. He sang his signature aria, "Nessun Dorma". I encourage you to "google" it today, even if you're not an opera fan. It will knock your socks off. It will bless your heart. A once-in-a-lifetime voice. A gift from God.
Meet you back here tomorrow,
Bro. David
dmathis@fbccenter.org
