This is a one-time post, because OC is listening to Pavarotti's music almost non-stop since last week, and it's the one Pavarotti legacy that will never die (or run out, unlike his money), the only one that counts in the end.
We're posting this once, because on the one hand we're definitely not going to write about this stuff anymore unless something humongous happens, but on the other hand OC realizes that so many readers have followed the news on Pavarotti's passing from this site, and we need to cover this once. As it was probably bound to happen, because that's the way life goes, the low-intensity fight between his heirs over Pavarotti's will and his monetary legacy (a fight that, elegantly, began only hours after his passing) has now officially become, with revelations in the Italian press that get uglier by the day, an all-out war.
With one faction slamming Nicoletta Mantovani, Pavarotti's second wife, with allegations -- anonymous at the beginning, and now with quotes from a family friend -- as somebody who was more interested in the maestro's fame and solvency than in his career and even his happiness, and allegedly demonstrated that quite clearly in the maestro's last weeks. There are also other allegations of a planned (by the maestro) separation that just didn't happen because of his illness; did we mention a tell-all biography chock-full of hearsay quotes from sources who quote the maestro himself is tastefully coming out, in Italy, next Monday?
Pavarotti's adult daughters have slammed the press for spreading gossip, and thanked the fans for their heartfelt sorrow for their father's passing. But this is not going to end soon.
Opera Chic's position is that the real tragedy here is that a four year old child has lost her beloved father -- a father who will not have the joy of seeing her grow up. The question of what happens to a fortune that could exceed 300 million dollars, plus the rights on future sales, how that mountain of cash gets split in the end, it does not really matter, not for those who loved il maestro for his music.