Luciano Pavarotti at the Met

Fewer artists have made as great an impact on the Met as Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti, who sang 378 performances with the company since his 1968 debut as Rodolfo in Puccini’s La Bohème. Beloved by audiences for his warm timbre, ringing high notes, and infectious smile, Pavarotti appeared in 20 roles—most of them in the Italian repertoire—over the course of nearly four decades. In memory of the tenth anniversary of his death on September 6, 2007, the Met looks back on some the most memorable moments from his nearly 50 radio-broadcast performances. Early on, Pavarotti sang many of the great tenor parts in the bel canto repertoire, from the elegant Lord Arturo Talbot in Bellini’s I Purtani to the simple peasant Nemorino in Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore, a role he sang 49 times for Met audiences. He also became an acclaimed interpreter of the works of Verdi, equally adored as the libertine Duke in Rigoletto and the tragic Riccardo in Un Ballo in Maschera. But just as with his debut, it was with the music of Puccini—this time as Cavaradossi in Tosca, a role he sang a record 60 times with the company—that the tenor bid farewell to the Met in 2004, ending one of the most celebrated careers in operatic history.