I don't want to be too blunt, here... but if this doesn't make your heart speed up just a tiny bit, and make you think, "hey, that's kind of gorgeous"... well, then... try replaying it.
30 years old. Trim. Handsome. Abso-freaking-thrilling voice.
(Pavarotti is singing the part of Rodolfo who has just met Mimi, his new neighbor in his rundown tenement building in Paris. She's come to his door asking if he'd light her candle so she can see in her cold, dark apartment upstairs. He accompanies her back up to her place and she drops her key - Rodolfo, the sneaky guy - finds it while they're chatting and hides it in his pocket to prolong their encounter. They're both searching around on the floor in the dark - the candle went out again - and their hands bump into each other.)
Here's the text translation:
What a frozen little hand,
let me warm it for you.
What's the use of looking?
We won't find it in the dark.
But luckily
it's a moonlit night,
and the moon
is near us here.
Wait, mademoiselle,
I will tell you in two words,
who I am, what I do,
and how I live. May I?
Who am I? I am a poet.
What do I do? I write.
And how do I live? I live.
There's much more on YouTube if this has you hooked. Here's one of the entire aria staged (though he wasn't exactly known for his acting abilities or stage movement). The "ah" vowels are enough to make me swoon. 3:45. La speranza, indeed.
At the end, he goes over to ask her to tell him about herself. God help the soprano playing Mimi who had to follow THAT up! The next aria (in which Mimi explains who she is and what she does) is equally fabulous... but, um... yeah...
