We'll miss you, Luciano

I woke up this morning to sad news: Luciano Pavarotti has lost his battle with pancreatic cancer.

It's strange -- in a lot of ways, I grew up with Pavarotti's music in the background. The Three Tenors concerts were something my whole family sat down to watch together -- more than once. I nearly got kicked out of my family when I said there were moments I like Jose Carreras' voice just a little more than Pavarotti's. Christmas music was always Pavarotti.

I guess I know what I need to download for my orals "soundtrack," don't I. His Nessun Dorma was my first true love in terms of music from opera. I hadn't seen or listened to Pavarotti in a while as of this morning -- but on a day like today, I guess it makes sense that the songs that I listened to for so much of my childhood will be on my iPod today. It's funny -- though clearly there's no personal connection with Pavarotti, the music forged its own kind of connection, to the point that at one time in my family, we spoke of "The Three Tenors" as though they were people we know -- as though they were our friends too. Silly -- but also says something about music, I think.

We'll miss you, Luciano.


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Hoping to do a more orals-centric post before the test -- but we'll see. For now, off to teach.