"There are tenors; and then there is Pavarotti"

Luciano Pavarotti has died. It was, in the end, cancer that did him in, ironically.

• The Guardian has reaction from Italy, where he was not just a celebrity, but the living embodiment of the national art form; the paper also has a short list of some of his greatest performances.
• Reuters has Pavarotti’s obituary in Italian.
• The news.google.it page about the great tenor shows what the man meant to the country.
• The New York Times has a slideshow, Bernie Holland provides a thoughtful and thorough obituary, and Anthony Tommasini shares his own memories. The Times also thoughtfully provides a selected discography (though one grumbles that perhaps they could have provided links to purchase—or at least hear samples—of said recordings).
• The blog Opera Chic links to some of his greatest hits on YouTube and is also rounding up international reaction to the great tenor’s passing.

I was lucky enough to hear him live once; it is a memory I’ll carry with me forever.