PESARO Big’s statue finally revealed Luciano which embraces the public and welcomes them, from via Curiel, before entering the Rossini Theatre. The smiling face, his arms open with his ever-present handkerchief in his left hand.
The suspense
Discovering the statue/monument, 192 cm high, resting on a marble base, a bronze work created using the lost wax casting technique by Albano Poli, was the widow Nicoletta Mantovani, her daughters Giuliana and Cristina, the grandchildren, the director and set designer Pier Luigi Pizzi, the deputy mayor of Modena Gianpiero Cavazza, together with the local authorities, including the prefect Emanuela Saveria Greco, the mayor Matteo Ricci and the deputy mayor Daniele Vimini, the general director of the Rof Cristian Della Chiara, the president of the Rossini Orchestra Saul Salucci. A white and red cloth, the colors of Pesaro, kept all those present in suspense until the end in the packed Piazza Lazzarini. «For him Pesaro was a true oasis of peace and tranquility», underlined Nicoletta Mantovani.
«But it is also true that he did many things here and today would have been a special day for him to be remembered by those he loved so much. I am grateful for this tribute because I believe that culture is the most important thing for the identity of a city and here there is love for culture. It’s a beautiful recognition of the great love he had for this city, and so in this moment it’s as if the wave of love is coming back. He loved walking around the city, spending time with the people of Pesaro and found it to be a fantastic city. The fact that it is here, in front of the theater that he cared so much about in a special year, dedicated to culture.”
Today a double tribute to the maestro, with the Pesaro Music Awards: «An even more beautiful recognition because it gives an award in Luciano’s memory and it is significant because he sang many times in this city. In the month of August everything was canceled and he wanted to stay alone in Pesaro.” According to Giuliana Pavarotti, Pesaro «was his refuge. For him these were the most beautiful lights in the world as well as the sea. A place that gave him so much inspiration: here he studied many works, including William Tell. And this is the place where I still come looking for him.” Pesaro is therefore officially Pavarotti’s second city and, as the star (Walk of Fame style) at his feet says “I am an honorary citizen of a thousand cities in the world, but of this one I feel like a true citizen”: a phrase which, as suggested by journalist Alberto Pancrazi, Pavarotti often repeated. The work was presented by Andrea Mezzetti, artistic assistant of maestro Poli, who underlined how the author worked with passion on the project also because he felt in full harmony with Pavarotti in his great work of inspiration towards artists: also honored for the respect and love of a city towards an artist who has always loved it and who now reciprocates his love. «Pavarotti is an unforgettable artist of our country. This statue has the objective of disseminating what the Master did and his ability to bring beauty into the world, through his voice.”
The link
The deputy mayor Daniele Vimini recalled the stages that marked Pesaro’s bond with the Maestro: «He performed for the reopening of the Rossini Theater in April 1980 after 14 years of closure, an anniversary that gave further impetus to a project, that of a Rossini festival in Pesaro, which saw the light a few months later. It was he again, in 1986, who enchanted the Rof audience with a historic concert in Piazza del Popolo. And finally, in 1996, it was he who inaugurated the current Vitrifrigo Arena, in which the Rossini Opera Festival staged some of his latest greatest successes. He was very close to the city, I remember for example the solidarity towards the Hematology center of Muraglia and, above all, he was a singer in love with Pesaro, he never failed to underline it.”
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Read the full article at
Adriatic Courier
