Bibliofemme News

Although the "The King and I" focuses on his 35-year business relationship with Pavarotti, it also shoots some pointed arrows at the reputations of other members of the operatic pantheon.

German soprano Elisabeth Schwarzkopf looked like "a cleaning woman", Australian diva Joan Sutherland was "pretty dopey," and German baritone Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau "gave the impression that his bodily emanations, shall we say, didn't smell."

As for Pavarotti, Breslin's book -- written with music critic Anne Midgette -- covers the course of a relationship that saw the singer emerge as the greatest tenor of his generation and then descend, according to Breslin, into a state of pampered petulance.

Their love-hate relationship is summed up in the memoir's subtitle, "The Uncensored Tale of Luciano Pavarotti's Rise to Fame by his Manager, Friend and Sometime Adversary."

The manager, now 80, and the tenor, 69, officially split two years ago.

Breslin describes his book as the story of a "very beautiful, simple, lovely guy who turned into a very determined, aggressive and somewhat unhappy superstar."

In the early days, Pavarotti was a "dream client" but artistic and financial success nurtured complacency, Breslin says, citing his client's increasing unwillingness to learn roles, memorise librettos or even turn up for performances.

"As the years went on, it looked more and more like he was taking this gorgeous career of his ... and flushing it down the toilet," he says.

His physical descriptions of Pavarotti are particularly unflattering and include the observation, made while sharing a steam bath with his naked client, that he was "hardly the answer to a maiden's prayer."

He also reveals how Pavarotti used burnt cork to darken his beard and mustache, and to cover his bald spot.

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