R.I.P. Luciano Pavarotti

I tend to think of myself as a person with some pretty varied tastes in music, I seem to like a little bit of everything, but I can honestly opera has never made it onto my playlists. Yet, despite all that, Luciano Pavarotti is one of the few whom I enjoy. The world has lost a great talent with the passing of this man. Here's the story from BBC News:

Opera legend Pavarotti dies at 71

World renowned tenor Luciano Pavarotti has died at his home in the northern Italian city of Modena.
The singer, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last year, was 71.

His charismatic performances - particularly alongside fellow tenors Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras - helped bring a new audience to opera.

Pavarotti had cancer surgery in July 2006 in New York, five months after his last performance. He had not made any public appearances since then.

He underwent five bouts of chemotherapy in the past year, and was admitted to hospital with a fever on 8 August. He was released two weeks later following diagnostic tests.

Fellow tenor Domingo said he had "always admired the God-given glory" of Pavarotti's voice, while Carreras called him "one of the most important tenors of all time".

The Vienna State Opera raised a black flag in mourning, while Modena said it would name its theatre after its famous son.

Manager Terri Robson said in a statement that the tenor died at 0500 local time (0400 BST) on Thursday.

Link to the full story.