I saw one of the last concerts Pavarotti sang. He seemed so frail. I was afraid he would not be able to hit the high notes, or sing a complete aria, or have to cut the concert short. Fortunately none of that happened. He sang every aria completely, high notes and all. He gave a full and beautiful concert. His professionalism, based on years of diligent practice, enabled him to meet all of his and our expectations during the entire performance. Bravo, bravissimo caro Maestro. We have so many wonderful memories and wish we had many more.

The reason I brought this up is to express my view that each such singer is important for him or herself, for what they had accomplished in their life, during their productive years. That it is a joy to see them in performance because we value them as human beings even they are no longer as perfect as they were. We can still welcome the new talented singers who can now carry forth the banner.

Are you not listening to the same singer we are? But I think that many of us would rather hear a singer we have loved, even if for one reason or another he is not as great as he used to be, than a younger singer, right out of tenor school, who has not the patina of experience or life.