In opera, people spend a lot of time saying relatively little. It takes a four-minute aria for the young hero of Puccini’s “La Bohème” just to introduce himself to the pretty neighbor who’s knocked at his door. In that “Bohème” aria, “Che gelida manina,” it’s as if our heads are being held underwater in a pool of boyish longing, the endearing boastfulness of a guy with a crush. Possibly no one in operatic history has been as sublime and as tacky as the subject of “Pavarotti,” a new documentary by Ron Howard that opens on Friday. The film, like an opera aria, forces us to linger on Luciano Pavarotti, a tenor who, 12 years after his death, remains beloved — and yet may be taken a little for granted.

Source: New York Times June 03, 2019 18:33 UTC