A sensational revelation has uncovered that opera legend Luciano Pavarotti was on the verge of committing suicide because of his tormenting second wife Nicoletta.
London, Sep 13 : A sensational revelation has uncovered that opera legend Luciano Pavarotti was on the verge of committing suicide because of his "tormenting" second wife Nicoletta.
According to one of his close friends, the tenor had confessed before his death that he was tormented by Nicoletta to such an extent that he had considered taking his life.
Nicoletta, who is now locked in a bitter feud with the singer's three adult daughters over his 250million pound will, has been branded as a scheming and controlling money grabber by Pavarotti's friends.
They have also accused her of detaching the tenor from those he loved and respected most and even threatening to bar him from seeing their four-year-old daughter Alice.
Dr Lidia La Marca, one of Pavarotti's oldest friends, has revealed how he 'unleashed' his feelings in hospital only weeks before he died on September 6, aged 71.
"He just unleashed himself like a child. He said, 'I am in a bad way. In these last years Nicoletta is tormenting me, she makes me live alone. 'I am isolated, my friends don't come and see me any more, she speaks badly about my daughters and she surrounds me with people I don't like,'" The Sun quoted Marca, as saying.
"'She has even pushed away Tino (Pavarotti's personal assistant) and his wife Veronica, who were like children to me. I need Veronica,'" she added.
Marca also revealed the greedy and grasping nature of Nicoletta, who was 37 years Pavarotti's junior.
"Luciano also told me, 'Nicoletta thinks about money all the time. She arrives with documents for me to sign. She threatens to not let me see Alice and she has these scenes,'" she said.
Marca added, "Then he said something which gave me goose bumps. He said, 'You know, Lidia, how this will end? I will shoot myself or we will separate.'"
Pavarotti revealed his sorrow after friends and family gathered round his hospital bed in Italy as he struggled to recover from pneumonia last month.
"Luciano looked tired and it was hard work for him to talk. But he was lucid, talked about football and made a few jokes with Leone. Then he surprised us all by asking everyone to leave apart from me. I was left alone with him. I saw Nicoletta's face go white," Marca said.
"I am telling what Luciano said because he asked me. He said, 'After my funeral you can say these things'. I think it's my moral duty to do so and this is exactly what he told me. I asked him if I could do anything, whether I should speak to his wife," she added.
Pavarotti married his first wife Adua in 1961, but the couple parted in 1966 and finally divorced in 2002. The tenor then married his former secretary Nicoletta Mantovani in December 2003.
Pavarotti, 71, died on Sep 6 at his home in Modena, Northern Rome, after losing his long battle with cancer.
ANI