Italian town freezes Pavarotti statue knee-deep in Christmas ice rink, angering widow

An Italian mayor has apologized to the family of opera star Luciano Pavarotti after the town of Pesaro covered a statue in memory of the dead singer at a Christmas ice rink.

The singer’s widow, Nicoletta Mantonvani, told local media she was “angry and upset” at the decision to “mock” her late husband.

A temporary ice rink was built in the center of the town’s square, and Pavrotti’s statue was covered knee-deep in ice and surrounded by plastic walls.

In response, Biancini said he did not mean to offend anyone and admitted that his council had “made a mistake”.

Before it was unveiled on November 29, Mayor Andrea Biancani posted a doctored image of Pavarotti’s ice hockey-playing statue with the hashtag #DaiUnCinqueAPavarotti, meaning “High-five Pavarotti.”

“I did not expect that a town would allow the memory and image of a person who made Italy great in the world to be treated in this way,” Ms Mantonvani told local publication Il Resto del Carlino.

He accused the council of making a “poorly implemented, absurd decision”.

The life-size bronze statue was officially unveiled in Pesaro in April 2024, with Ms Mantonvani and the couple’s daughter Alice in attendance.

The couple holidayed frequently in Pesaro, where Pavarotti had a villa and was an honorary citizen.

Biancini told Il Resto del Carlinogiving the event the name “Pavarotti on Ice”. When the ice rink was initially presented to him, he was assured that the Pavarotti statue would not be touched, and only later learned that the designers had been forced to change their structure.

He said it would not be possible to dismantle the track or move the statue at this late stage but insisted it “won’t happen again”.

Pavarotti was an Italian tenor and is known as one of the most successful opera stars of all time.

His performances in Three Tenors concerts were watched all over the world, and he performed his rendition of Nessun Dorma from Puccini’s Turandot at the 1990 Italian World Cup.

His last performance was at the opening of the Winter Olympics in Turin in February 2006.

He died the following year at the age of 71 after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

Pavarotti left behind four daughters from both marriages. Mrs Mantonvani was his second wife. She remarried to financial advisor Alberto Tinarelli in 2020.