Section:OBS 2N PaGe:7 Edition Date:190804 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 3/8/2019 18:40 cYanmaGentaYellowblac
- The Observer
News 04.08.19 7
Encore! Hi-tech brings Pavarotti
back to life for new stage musical
Italian tenor’s widow
gives blessing to
production by
Hollywood director
and former opera boss,
writes Dalya AlbergeHis rendition of Nessun Dorma
became the 1990 World Cup
soundtrack and his Three Tenors
concerts filled stadi ums, turning
opera singers into rock stars.
Now, more than a decade after
his death, Luciano Pavarotti ’s
magnifi cent voice is to thrill audi-
ences again. One of Hollywood’s
most sought-after fi lm directors is
teaming up with a former artistic
director of English National Opera to
create an ambitious musical inspired
by the Italian ’s life and work.
The show, which is being created
by Michael Gracey , will feature
Pavarotti’s original recordings, but
will not cast anyone in his role, said
John Berry , who is producing the
musical. “It would be impossible to
fi nd somebody who could play him,”
he said. “As [Plácido] Domingo said,
there was never a voice like his before
him, and there probably never will be .”
Pavarotti’s widow, Nicoletta , has
turned down previous approaches
for stage rights to her husband’s
story, but she is said to have been
so impressed by this musical that
she is giving its creators access to athese rights. We made a pitch and
Nicoletta was excited about our ideas.
“She knew about my producing
experience of large-scale work at
ENO, productions that travelled the
world. She knew we had investors
... and we managed to get the rights.
Nicoletta is a fantastic source of infor-
mation. She’s built up a very good
relationship with Gracey.” The pro-
duction also has the complete sup-
port of Universal Music Group, the
singer’s record company. Discussing
Gracey’s directorial appointment,
Berry added: “This is not an opera, or
for a niche market. This is for a wide
popular audience. We really wanted
someone who could bring something
different to the stage, who had great
fl air, a really individual imagination
and was at the cutting-edge of tech-
nology.” He added: “[ Enrico] Caruso
was the star of the gramophone age,
Pavarotti was the star of modern-day
media. The way he crossed between
opera and popular music made him
an incredible world superstar.”
The beleaguered ENO will no
doubt be regretting the loss of its for-
mer artistic director. Berry is among
several key figures who have left,
and the Pavarotti musical is just the
sort of extraordinary production the
company would need to revive its for-
tunes. It does not currently even have
an artistic director.
A music director, a writer and a
designer will be joining the Pavarotti
project in coming months, working
towards a 2021 premiere.Luciano
Pavarotti
performs in
Brazil at the
height of his
fame in 2000.
Photograph by
David Hecker/
AFPJohn Berry, left, former
ENO artistic director. Right,
Pavarotti with his wife
Nicoletta in 2006.The founder of Waterstones has said
he feels no guilt over the aggressive
expansion of his chain which led to
the closure of nearly 500 independ-
ent bookshops in the UK.
Tim Waterstone , who founded the
bookseller in 1982 , tells the BBC’s
Desert Island Discs today that the com-
petition simply wasn’t up to scratch.
“I didn’t feel guilty,” he says. “I’d just
have to say, no, they had a shot.
“You know the sort of things people
used to say to me about me personally- that I was personally responsible
for closing down far too many inde-
pendent bookshops – but the truth is
Waterstones, when it started, was the
smallest independent bookseller you
could possibly imagine ... I mean, we
had nothing.”
Waterstone, who opened his fi rst
bookshop in Old Brompton Road,
London, no longer has a stake or role
in the business, but adds that it ini-
tially gained success in part due to
its late opening hours and opening
on Sundays. “What we did have was
self- confi dence and a very clear offer,
and wonderful staff and a wonder-
ful business model. And we weren’t
sympathetic, quite honestly.”
He reveals that the sale of the busi-
ness to WH Smith in 1993 for £47m
was painful at fi rst. “I was convinced
by the Smith’s letter – which they did
absolutely honour – about the stag-
gering amount of investment they
would put into it. It felt the right thing
to do.”
In 1998 , Waterstones was sold
to HMV Media for £300m, which
was chaired by Waterstone until he
stepped down in 2001. The business
was then acquired by Russian busi-
nessman Alexander Mamut in 2011
for £53m.
Last year, Elliott Advisors took a
majority stake, leaving Mamut with a
minority holding. This June , the hedge
fund also acquired America’s biggest
bookstore chain, Barnes & Noble.
Both chains are led by James Daunt ,
the founder of Daunt Books and cur-
rent chief executive of Waterstones.
Waterstones
founder has
no guilt for
loss of small
bookshops
Nosheen Iqbalhim .... This man had tremendous
charisma. It’s hard to imagine now
that any classical artist could reach ...
such a global audience.
“He also made an amazing human-
itarian impact, raising hundreds of
millions for charity, helping children
in war-torn regions of the world.”
The son of a baker , Pavarotti once
said he wished to be remembered “as
someone who took opera to the peo-
ple”. His Three Tenors concerts with
Domingo and José Carreras intro-
duced millions to opera.
The support of Pavarotti’s widow
had been invaluable, said Berry. “The
stage rights are owned by the Luciano
Pavarotti Foundation and Nicoletta
Pavarotti. Over many years, a number
of producers were looking to obtainvast private archive, which includes
everything from letters and film
footage to his clothes.
As a visual-effects artist whose 2017
fi lm The Greatest Showman starred
Hugh Jackman and made more than
$430m at the box offi ce, Gracey will
use cutting-edge technology for the
multi million-pound staging. But
how Pavarotti will be presented, or
whether the show will involve his rec-
reation through technology, is yet to
be revealed. Berry, who was at ENO
between 2005 and 2015 , said : “This
is a musical inspired by the voice of
Luciano Pavarotti. His voice is one
of the most thrilling sounds you will
ever hear from anybody.
“There are so few singers, both in
popular and classical music, who are
as exceptional. The way he moved
from the opera house to the big pub-
lic arena concerts was extraordinary.
The way he brought together so many
iconic pop artists to perform withРЕЛИЗ
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