Tired Pavarotti Rests While His Fans and the Press Wait : The Late, Great Tenor

Socrates, it is said, would keep students waiting because he believed it sharpened their concentration.

Luciano Pavarotti’s reason for keeping about 100 fans, reporters and photographers waiting for 3 1/2 hours at a “press conference” Monday was less lofty: The famous tenor was grabbing some shut-eye.

“Luciano’s tired,” explained Luke Bandle, marketing director for Opera Pacific, as dozens of anxious people checked their watches behind her. “He came straight from Milan and he really needs the sleep.”

The Red Lion Inn in Costa Mesa helped organize the press conference as part of a $420 package deal for about 40 couples. The package included tickets to a concert Pavarotti gave Monday night at the Orange County Performing Arts Center to benefit the opera, a night at the hotel afterward--and the chance to watch Pavarotti fend off the mad dogs of the county’s cultural press corps.

Be there at 12:30 p.m., invitations said. At 1 p.m. Bandle passed the word that Pavarotti had worn down his batteries on the long flight Saturday from Milan. He was upstairs. “They’re not going to wake him up?” a silver-haired man was overheard saying to a woman next to him.

Bandle then announced that the press conference would be at 3 p.m. Meanwhile, Pavarotti promoter Tibor Rudas decided to buy everybody a free lunch at the hotel restaurant. That emptied the room instantly.

Upstairs, the singer slept away in a 1,700-square-foot room with a Jacuzzi, surrounded by several humidifiers supplied by the hotel, according to Russ Cox, its general manager. Cox said that, as far as he knew, Pavarotti was in good health. “He’s got a hot plate up there and he’s been doing some of his own cooking,” he said. “I know we took a bowl of lemons up there, but don’t ask me what for.”

“I’m very disappointed,” said Diana Danner, who had driven with her husband from La Palma for the Red Lion package deal. David Danner had taken the day off from his job at Hughes Aircraft. “Oh, we’ll have a good time anyway,” he said. “We’re going to do some shopping.”

‘I Wonder if He’s Landed Yet’

The whole flock of admirers returned at 3 p.m., facing a long table with a single microphone. Photographers leaned against the wall.

It was silent. The clock moved slowly. Opera Pacifica officials acknowledged that the tenor had not come straight from Milan, in the sense of having just arrived. He had been in Costa Mesa since Saturday.

Helen Fletcher, up from Coronado with husband Roy for the $420 deal, never bought that straight-from-Milan stuff, anyway. “That’s right, he’s coming in from Milan,” she said, raising both eyebrows skeptically. “I wonder if he’s landed yet.”

The couple, in their 60s, said they had heard a radio spot for the hotel package and came because they admired Pavarotti--but not blindly, Roy said. “He runs hot and cold,” said the retired businessman. “Like some football teams.”

“I think he needs a good American suit,” said Helen, veering off with a Pavarotti opinion she had clearly been storing a long time. “His suits look baggy.”

At 3:15 p.m., package-deal purchaser Robert Hull--as if warming up for the press conference-- was starting to ask some questions. “What is he? A deity?”

Charlie Severino, a middle-aged Tustin car salesman, also took the day off for the package.

Arms crossed, eyes fixed on the unattended microphone, Severino had to think awhile when asked what kept him there. It was a few minutes shy of 3:30 p.m. “He’s worth it,” Severino said.

Then, a hush spread over the crowd. “He’s coming,” somebody said. Like tugboats in advance of ship, Opera Pacific staffers opened the doors wide and all heads turned. In a heavy blue parka and a scarf, Pavarotti was dressed as if he had skied to the hotel. The smallish eyes in the wide, soft face looked especially tired. Groggily, with the childlike fragility of the newly woken, he sat at the microphone. Rubbing his face, he softly apologized. To perform after a long trip, he needed sleep.

He never took the coat off. It was over in about seven minutes. There was no news. The questions weren’t killers, and included “Do you like Orange County?” and “Who is your favorite singer?”

He answered the first in the affirmative, adding in accented English that “everything looks like it was from two days ago.”

He said that his favorites singers were: 1) himself 2) Caruso.

As he was getting up to leave, a fan asked: “Will you be singing again soon in Los Angeles?”

“I would have to wake up completely,” he said, smiling, blinking in the light.