hellomagazine.com

Opera superstar Luciano said to have changed will in his last weeks

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13 SEPTEMBER 2007

Even as the world paid a reverential last farewell to Luciano Pavarotti, speculation had already begun about how the opera legend's £250-million fortune would be divided. As he drew close to the end, the maestro is said to have altered his will, cutting his wife Nicoletta Mantovani's share and favouring the three grown-up daughters of his first marriage, Lorenza, Cristina and Guiliana.

The famous tenor's relations with the girls' mother, Adua Veroni, his former wife of nearly 40 years, had recovered to some degree. They are said to have spoken on the phone regularly and Luciano recently attended a party at her house for the first time since the pair's separation in 1993.

According to Italy's respected La Stampa newspaper his second marriage had been in trouble for some time, with the classical music star accusing Nicoletta of being controlling and isolating him from friends.

The singer's manager rubbished the report, however, citing the masked ball Nicoletta arranged for her husband's 70th birthday last year with hundreds of guests. "The celebration was a complete surprise and he loved it," said Terri Robson, who served Luciano for more than 20 years.

The opera star's lawyer, Luciano Buonanno, would only say that he had a two-hour meeting to take down Pavarotti's last testament on July 29 - just six weeks before he died - and the contents would be made public in a few months.