Pavarotti's fortune diminished by huge debt, reports say

Last Updated: Sunday, October 21, 2007 | 5:11 PM ET

CBC News

Opera legend Luciano Pavarotti died with 18 million euros ($24.7 million Cdn) of personal debt, according to Italian media reports.

The famous tenor's bank accounts were 11 million euros in deficit and he owed another seven million in unpaid loans, said the daily La Repubblica on Sunday.

"The fact that the maestro had debts is no secret for anyone," Giorgio Bernini, the lawyer for Pavarotti's second wife, Nicoletta Mantovani, is quoted as saying.

In the final years of his life, the singer had cut back on performances and he also suffered an extended and very expensive hospitalization, he added.

Pavarotti died Sept. 6 in his hometown of Modena, Italy, after a battle with pancreatic cancer.

Mantovani, mother of Pavarotti's daughter Alice, inherited all his possessions in the U.S., including three apartments and several valuable paintings. These are estimated to be worth 17.5 million euros.

La Repubblica reports the feud between Mantovani and Pavarotti's three daughters from his first marriage has ended now it has been revealed that the singer's personal finances were in turmoil.

In his will, Pavarotti left his daughters a villa in Pesaro, on Italy's Adriatic coast, and an apartment in Monte Carlo that they will have to share with Mantovani.

Pavarotti left a 35-year marriage with his first wife, Adua, to marry Mantovani in 2003.

The singer was known around the world for popularizing opera by appearing on stage with pop and rock stars.