GRANDISSIMO PAVAROTTI: A CELEBRATION OF THE CAREER OF THE WORLD'S GREATEST TENOR ON THE SILVER ANNIVERSARY OF HIS DEBUT Hardcover - 1986

New York City, NY: Doubleday & Company, 1986. First Edition. First Printing.. Hardcover. Fine/Fine Dust Jacket.. New York City, NY: Doubleday & Company, 1986. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. First Edition/First Printing. 225 pages. Book-length account on subject. One of the most beautiful books on music of the 20th century. The First Hardcover Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a regular first print run as a hardcover original only. The First Edition is now scarce. A brilliant production by Doubleday: Oversize-volume format. Cloth boards with titles on the cover and spine, as issued. Text by Martin Mayer. Photographs by various contributors. In pictorial DJ with titles on the cover and spine, as issued. Presents "Grandissimo Pavarotti: A Celebration of The Career of The World's Greatest Tenor On The Silver Anniversary of His Debut". The single most captivating account on Pavarotti, his meteoric rise and enduring fame. "This lavish volume appeals to a broad audience. Sumptuous photographs of Pavarotti's operatic career and his remarkable joie de vivre capture him as artist, teacher, family man, and international media superstar. Traces Pavarotti's career and also gives a brief survey of tenors from the mid-19th century to the present" (Bryan C. Stoneburner) . There have been many great tenors during the Pavarotti Era. Some of them (like his most formidable rival, Placido Domingo) matched Pavarotti's sumptuous voice. But there can be no doubt that Luciano Pavarotti reigned supreme as the greatest divo-personality of modern times since Enrico Caruso. Larger-than-life, irresistible, and irreplaceable, Luciano Pavarotti died on September 6, 2007 at the relatively young age of 71 (he was perennially in bad health) , marking the end of the Golden Age of The Masculine Voice in opera of our time. It seemed as though the very idea of operatic greatness, as though the music itself had died. An absolute "must-have" title for Luciano Pavarotti collectors. This copy is very prominently, neatly, and beautifully signed, dated (in the year of publication) , and inscribed in blue ink-pen on the title page by the artist: "A Jerry, MERRY CHRISTMAS [in block letters] , caramente [affectionately], Luciano Pavarotti '86-'87". It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. Pavarotti's handwriting on this copy is clean, flowing, and elegant. The recipient, who is named, is unmistakably known to, even close to, Pavarotti. This title is a classic. As far as we know, this is the only such signed, publication-year dated, and inscribed copy of the First Hardcover Edition/First Printing available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. Please note: Copies available online have very serious flaws, are subsequent printings, or are remainder-marked. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare signed copy thus. 200 plates. The greatest tenor-divo of the 20th century. A fine collectible copy. . ISBN 0385231385.