I would listen to him for hours on end and my tiredness after doing all the housework would diminish. Ironing was a rotten chore I despised until I felt the warm glow inside me when he sang.

Sometimes I would cry when he sang his Ave Maria especially since mum and dad died within one year and eight months of each other. No doubt, his voice was overwhelming and it surpassed that of Placido Domingo and Jose’ Carreras.

My God, the opera world lost its brightest star when Luciano Pavarotti lost his battle with cancer on 6 September. In silence, his voice was made for praying, in noisy moments his voice was as soothing as the touch of a baby’s skin. In painful times his voice actually instilled serenity and tranquility into a troubled mind.

The golden voice he had was indeed a most powerful force which took the world to great heights and left people light and airy.

Pavarotti’s voice will live on forever but in body, the giant of a man is no more. He will not fascinate the crowds who went to watch him sing with his so apparent charisma. We will not be able to see him smile that beautiful smile that captured even the most fretful of bad tempered people.

Luciano Pavarotti possessed a wonderful virtue that will make him solely missed and indispensable.

Farewell Luciano, may you enchant the Kingdom of Heaven with your charm, your personality and your virile royal bewitching voice and may you enthral God, His mother and all the saints who hear your sing as you enthralled the public at large.

Valerie Borg

Valletta