Tenor Luciano Pavarotti has given hope to millions of opera-lovers who can't read music - by revealing that he can't either.
Instead, he relies on his ear and his own sign system to learn operatic scores."Yes, it's true. I don't read music," the 61-year-old told Corriere della Sera during the Festival of Nations in Citta di Castello, a small town in Italy's Umbria region, during the weekend.
"I am not a musician, I don't go into the technicalities. The score is one thing and the singing part another. If I have the music in mind and sing with my body then it's fine."
Pavorotti made the revelation after Vittorio Gassman, an Italian classical actor, said he discovered the tenor was not referring to the musical score as they prepared for a duet at the festival.