Pavarotti was born on , in Modena, Italy. His father was a baker who had a good singing voice, but was too afflicted by stage fright to perform in public. Pavarotti grew up to the sound of his father singing the melodies of the Italian operatic repertory while he worked. From a very early age, the young Pavarotti wanted to be an opera singer.
However, after leaving school he became a teacher, and it was not until he was...