Luciano Pavarotti gave his final performance at the Metropolitan Opera singing the role of Cavaradossi in Puccini’s Tosca, and it was fraught with anxiety. I was allowed to follow him throughout rehearsals, shoot during performance and have some private time with him in his dressing room immediately afterwards. My rehearsal images showed the seriously overweight tenor barely able to walk without the support of two men, and in the Act III rehearsal, he not only failed to stand for his final aria he failed to hit his high note. I have an image of him seated at a desk in the center of the stage staring directly into my lens, utterly conquered. However, the artist/angel in his soul rose to take over the ailing human and in the performance he sang brilliantly. His final standing ovation lasted nearly twenty minutes and he stood alone without support the whole time basking in the love showering down upon him. This photograph was taken in his dressing room immediately afterwards. He was facing the makeup mirror, and I was behind him shooting his mirror image. What we see is the great tenor empowered but reflective: Remembrance of things that had just come to pass….