The tenor Luciano Pavarotti, who died last Thursday, had threatened to kill himself due to tensions with his second wife, Nicoletta Mantovani, according to a close family friend.
In an extraordinary interview with the Turin daily, La Stampa, gynaecologist Lidia La Marca yesterday claimed that 71-year-old Pavarotti, more than 30 years older than Ms Mantovani (37), felt imprisoned and alone in the relationship.
Ms La Marca is married to Bologna-based conductor Leone Magiera who worked with Pavarotti and the couple had known the singer for more than 30 years.
Ms La Marca claims that during a visit she and her husband made to Pavarotti in the Policlinico Hospital in Modena on August 16th, the singer asked everyone except her to leave the room. Pavarotti then unburdened himself, complaining that Nicoletta was "tormenting him" and she had cut him off from all his old friends. "She's always thinking about money, she turns up with papers for me to sign. She threatens to not let me see Alice [their four-year-old daughter] and she's always making a major scene," Pavarotti allegedly said.
According to Ms La Marca, he then added: "You know how this will all end. Either I shoot myself or we separate." Ms La Marca claims the singer was perfectly aware he was terminally ill with pancreatic cancer and urged her to "recount all these things after my funeral".
Pavarotti separated from his first wife, Adua Veroni, in the early 1990s, after 35 years. He eventually divorced her in 2002, marrying Nicoletta Mantovani, his one-time secretary, the following year.
In recent days, Italian media sources have speculated there may be a major row between the two wives about the singer's wealth, given that Pavarotti allegedly changed his will before his death.
Along with her daughters, Cristina, Giuliana and Lorenza, first wife Adua Veroni issued a statement denouncing the media for its speculation on "purported bickering, phantasmagoric wealth, last wills and testaments that we know nothing about".
However, speculation about Pavarotti's wealth is sure to continue. Throughout his 45-year career, he was one of the most highly paid opera singers in the world.