There are millions of less fortunate others, of course, who did not/do not know who this man was, or what he did for a living. Dickie Bird was one of them.
At a swimming pool in Bridgetown, Barbados, Bird bumped into the man he could have scarcely ignored.
“Luciano Pavarotti, tenor,” came the cavernous introduction from the other side.
“Dickie Bird, Test match umpire,” came the feeble reply.
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Zubin Mehta conducts Pavarotti
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Photo courtesy: Suzanne Plunkett/ The Associated Press
Read the tributes: Pavarotti, born on October 12, dies at 71
He was great!
The Lata Mangeshkar of Western music?
What say?
Nope. Lata Mangeshkar simply excelled at a popular form of music, while Pavarotti made a classical form more accessible to the masses. Heck, he made opera popular with those who had never heard it before.
Dear All,
Hats off to Pavarotti for making the final exit at the right time! IMHO Lata M should have made this exit in the early 80s. Now she sounds more and more like a fat North Indian lady singing in the privacy of her bathroom!
DB:
LM is more of a Kannadiga/Goan/Maharashtrian than a north Indian. She doesn’t have any north Indian connection whatsoever. Unless you are implying that Maharashtrian/Goans et al are de facto north Indians. Which they are NOT. (Ask a Da Silva or a Gagil if he’s north Indian. See the response.)
Sugata,
I was referring to the deterioration in LM’s singing over the years!
Point WELL taken. OTOH, your comment brought to mind some fat north Indian woman singing in her bathroom-which left me chuckling. However, as some Hindi channel is having some competition of “bathroom” singers, would therefore, Lata M be a shoo-in for that title?! The thought is apopleptic!
However, I am not entirely certain a woman from some other part of the country would sound better. Why north indian, yaar? Purr-fectly not right. You are doing north-India bashing. You have hart the sentiments of the North Indian peoples who are singings the songs in the bathrooms. Kya?
North Indians will have better accents while singing in Hindi. Yes I have hurt the sentiments of Northies.
The only Kannada part of Lata M could be a slice of her surname, “Manga” Not to be confused with “Maanga comics” but as we know in Karnataka a famous tree-climbing animal:)
Doddi (manga) Buddi, You are alive!