NEW YORK (Classical online magazine) - Opera star
Luciano Pavarotti said he plans to become a teacher when he retires from performing in 2005. The singing legend said he plans to pass on his experience to pupils for free, and give something back to the music world.
"I received a beautiful welcome to the world of music," said the tenor who was speaking as he launched his first pop album after a 40-year career in classical opera.
"I want to give something back to the younger generation. "Teaching I think is the most difficult thing; teaching is more difficult than singing. Why? Because you have to transfer a thought from your brain to the brain of the other person and the throat of the other person.
I want to teach people who really are good," he added.
Pavarotti was a teacher before he found fame in the opera world in the 1960s. He said he expected to teach mostly in his native country Italy and in New York where he spends much of his time.
The new release, Ti Adoro, comes in the wake of a difficult year for the 67-year-old in which he lost his mother and father, as well as a son who died during childbirth. The boy's twin sister, Alice, survived.
And in January, he split with Herbert Breslin, his manager and publicist for more than 30 years.
Pavarotti's new release is his first album of modern songs, many of which were written for the tenor. It includes a performance alongside guitar veteran Jeff Beck, who appears on his version of Caruso.
In June, Pavarotti made a successful return to the opera stage in a performance of Tosca in Berlin. He took the role of Cavaradossi in the one-off show at the Deutsche Oper.
But he pulled out of a festival in Wales the same month which was meant to start a series of dates to kick off his farewell tour. He was due to perform at the Llangollen International Eisteddfod, the venue where he first performed in the UK in 1955. But he withdrew, saying he wanted to end his farewell tour at Llangollen, rather than begin it there.
In August, the tenor appeared alongside Jose Carreras and Placido Domingo at a concert in Bath in front of 13,000 fans for a romp through a list of popular classics which included the aria Nessun Dorma which Pavarotti has made his own.
