rome
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Italian authorities appear to be treading on thin ice as a skating rink is built around a statue of Luciano Pavarotti and passersby are encouraged to “high-five” the famous tenor.
This monument in the northern Italian city of Pesaro depicts Pavarotti wearing a tailcoat and holding his signature handkerchief.
Pavarotti’s last wife, Nicoletta Mantovani, who died of pancreatic cancer in 2007 at the age of 71, complained that it was disrespectful to have an ice rink placed around a life-sized tribute to her late husband.
“It’s unfortunate that the city allowed something like this, because it affects Luciano’s image and the respect he deserves,” she told Il Resto del Carlino newspaper last week. “That’s not right.”
Pesaro’s mayor, Andrea Biancani, came under fire on November 23 after posting on Facebook a doctored image of a famous tenor skater holding an ice hockey stick. In the post, he suggested skaters say “#daiUnCinqueAPavarotti” and “high-five” the statue.
“The smile, the humor, the ability to see the bright side of things. Let’s never lose that,” he wrote in a post after Mantovani first complained.
Biancani explained that despite the bad vibes, the city decided to open the rink in order to start the holiday season on time.
The mayor’s post, which is still online, received several critical comments, including concerns about safety and poor taste if people tried to high-five the statue.
Mr. Biancani has now formally apologized to Mr. Mantovani, and a City Hall spokesperson told CNN on Tuesday that he never intended to hurt the singer’s family or his legacy.
A spokesperson said the installers mistakenly placed the rink around the statue instead of next to it.
“There was no intention to be disrespectful,” the spokesperson told CNN on behalf of the mayor. He added that the presence of Pavarotti embedded in the ice was not included in the original plans for the Christmas rink.
“I was confident that Pavarotti would not be touched or incorporated into the floor of the ice rink,” he told local media.
Officials say it is not possible to dismantle the rink or move the statue at this stage, but a short wall has been built around the rink to isolate it from the rest of the rink. However, if a skater passes near the edge, it is still possible to touch the monument.
The Pavarotti statue was installed in April 2024 to honor the late singer and his wife, who had a villa on the nearby Adriatic coast.
Pavarotti is considered one of the greatest tenors of all time and has sold over 100 million records worldwide.
Plácido Domingo’s collaboration with Jose Carreras as the “Three Tenors” produced the best-selling classical album of all time.
Pavarotti last performed in public at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.
