From our archives

2 September 2022
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Luciano Pavarotti played a fundamental role in the history of the ROF on more than one occasion. He inaugurated the renovated Teatro Rossini in April 1980 after 14 years of closure, giving further impetus to a project, that of a Rossini festival in Pesaro, which had just been approved by the city council and was born a few months later. It was he again, in 1986, who enchanted the ROF audience with a historic concert in Piazza del Popolo, Pesaro's central square, once the city's theatrical venue par excellence. Finally, in 1996, the extraordinary singer inaugurated the arena that, years later, would become the second venue for our Festival's performances: the current Vitrifrigo Arena, where the Festival has staged some of its most recent masterpieces.

But the importance of Pavarotti's presence in Pesaro went beyond these significant events: his human and artistic qualities made him a point of reference for many young singers who received much advice in his home on Monte San Bartolo and teaching from an exceptional maestro such as he was.