Luciano Pavarotti and ice skating. You might not think the hefty tenor and the sport of compact, powerful athletes would combine into one story. But here we are.
A bronze statue of Pavarotti was unveiled in 2024 in Pesaro, an Italian town on the northern Adriatic where he had owned a villa. Unlike some recent statues of famous people, this one was met mostly with public approval, at least in terms of its likeness. (If only Ronaldo, Lucille Ball and Prince Philip had been so lucky.) Pavarotti’s second wife, Nicoletta Mantovani, was on hand for the unveiling of the tribute to the opera singer, who died in 2007.
In the work, Pavarotti wears a tuxedo and sports the broad smile that enchanted music lovers for decades. He holds his trademark handkerchief, and his arms are spread wide as if to acknowledge thunderous applause after a transcendent performance of “E lucevan le stelle.”
“It is a gift to the city, but above all a tribute to Luciano Pavarotti,” said Matteo Ricci, the mayor of Pesaro at the time.
What could go wrong?
It started when the town decided on another civic improvement, a temporary ice rink for Christmas this year. The chosen location was the same square where Pavarotti stands, in front of the town’s opera house, named for Gioachino Rossini, a famous native son.
After construction was completed, Pavarotti was still there, but he was surrounded by a plexiglass barrier, and a platform concealed him to his knees.
That meant that Pavarotti would face a season of standing forlornly as those who once paid tribute to him merrily twirled and lutzed instead.
Or at least that’s how it seemed to Ms. Mantovani.
“This is ridicule of Luciano, a terrible thing,” she told the newspaper Il Resto del Carlino of Bologna. “I’ve seen the images, and it seems like a poorly executed, absurd decision on the part of the administration. On the one hand, they want to pay homage to him, on the other, they’re ridiculing him. It’s not right.”
Making matters worse, the current town mayor, Andrea Biancani, posted an image of the statue by the side of the ice rink and urged skaters to “high five” Pavarotti as they passed by, which riled some opera fans as well.
Francesca Frenquellini, the town councilor who oversaw the town’s Christmas makeover, resigned over the weekend because of political infighting (unrelated to the rink), according to a video she posted to Facebook. In a telephone interview she said that she had learned that the statue had been enclosed by the rink only after the fact. She said that she was sorry, and that she had notified the mayor, who didn’t seem too distressed, telling her that, after all, it was only for 30 days.
After her resignation, the center-right opposition held a news conference to blast city hall for making the town, Pesaro, what they called an international laughing stock. “Frankly, I’m mad, because it’s not the mayor or city hall that looks bad, it’s Pesaro,” said Giulia Marchionni, a lawmaker with the opposition party Pesaro Svolta. All the more so, she said in an interview, because as Pavarotti is knee deep in scaffolding, he’s “out of scale” when standing next to him. “It’s a terrible postcard for the city.”
Indeed, the news has resonated around the globe. Some have gotten a little carried away, with descriptions that make it sound like Pavarotti is “buried in ice,” raising the disturbing specter of an entombed tenor looking like the Statue of Liberty at the end of “Planet of the Apes.”
Nevertheless, the notoriety has brought out the crowds. People have lined up to take selfies with the statue in recent days, local media reported.
Andrea Mezzetti, the artistic assistant to Albano Poli, who sculpted the statue, said the work could have been completely covered “in a wooden box, for example,” to protect it. “It would have made less noise,” he said in an interview. Mr. Poli died not long after the statue was revealed last year.
“First of all, I would like to apologize,” Mayor Biancani, of the center-left Democratic Party, said in a statement.
“During assembly, the need for more space emerged to ensure safety and accessibility. We considered possible modifications or the temporary relocation of the statue, but this was not technically possible without compromising the structure. The final configuration was therefore a necessary choice, not a deliberate one.”
“It was certainly a mistake, but I urge you not to dramatize it. There was no intention to disrespect Maestro Pavarotti, who is an honorary citizen for us; a figure who is part of our history.”
But for this season at least, Pavarotti will remain partly submerged by the side of an ice rink in Pesaro as children gleefully high-five him. It’s a long way from La Scala.
Elisabetta Povoledo contributed reporting from Rome.
Victor Mather, who has been a reporter and editor at The Times for 25 years, covers sports and breaking news.
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