Opera is wildly popular worldwide, but its popularity is largely niche. It is rare that even the biggest superstars of the form become household names. One towering exception is Luciano Pavarotti, who broke through in the mid-1970s and largely remained who people thought of when they thought of opera singers for the rest of his life. Pavarotti became such a mainstream success that he even got to star in a movie, though the less said about 1982's Yes, Giorgio, largely remembered today because of its Oscar nomination for Song, the better. In 1990, his career reached new heights when he teamed with fellow opera superstars Plácido Domingo and José Carreras to form The Three Tenors, whose performance at the 1990 World Cup proved to be a sensation, leading to the trio producing numerous hit albums and blockbuster concerts for the rest of the decade and beyond.
In 1978, Pavarotti, already a superstar but perhaps not at the height of his fame yet, appeared in concert at Montreal's Notre-Dame Basilica, singing a selection of classical Christmas songs. Two years later, in 1980, the edited version of the concert, titled A Christmas Special, would premiere on PBS (there are several versions floating around with different credit sequences and slightly different titles, though they all appear to have identical content).
After an opening melody from the Montreal Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Franz-Paul Decker, Pavarotti stars off by singing "O Holy Night", or more precisely, the original French version of the song, "Minuit Chrétien". He then sings the Italian aria "Pietà, Signore". I have to admit, the director's choice to superimpose a closeup of Pavarotti over a shot of the church's walls seems rather distracting.
After a rather lengthy interlude with a boys choir singing the "Gloria in Excelsis Deo" chorus from "Angels We Have Heard on High" and "Silent Night" in French, Pavarotti returns with "Ave Maria". Later on, he sings with both an adult choir and the boys choir. After that, the distracting editing returns, with the screen half a closeup of Pavarotti singing "Agnus Dei" and half of a longshot of what appears to be the church's alter, with vague movement occurring.
He finally figures out how to use the effect effectively by the next-to-last song, a rendition of "Adeste Fideles" in which Pavarotti's close-up towers over a long shot of the entire orchestra and both choirs. Oddly, the finale is a stirring rendition of the "Hallelujah Chorus", sung by the adult choir, with Pavarotti nowhere in sight until he appears for his final bow during the closing credits.
As excellent in voice as Pavarotti is throughout, the special feels rather airless. In their haste to get everything edited down to fit the one-hour running time, there's absolutely no transition between songs, and there is no acknowledgement that there even is an audience watching this until the standing ovation at the end.
Pavarotti would continue to perform for the rest of his life, with his final public performance being at the Opening Ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympics. He would die of cancer roughly a year and half later. A Christmas Special appears to be his only solo filmed Christmas concert, though The Three Tenors would produce one two decades later. Opera is an acquired taste, but if you're a fan of opera and of Pavarotti, this one is well worth seeking out.
Next time: This wraps our special mid-summer series. I'll be back with 12 (I hope) new entries starting Sunday, November 29. Until then, Merry Heatstroke!
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