‘Pavarotti’s heir’ dies in scooter accident

SALVATORE Licitra, a tenor known in his Italian homeland as the “new Pavarotti” for his potent voice and considerable stamina, has died after nine days in a coma following a motor scooter accident in Sicily.

Catania’s Garibaldi Hospital said that Licitra, 43, never regained consciousness after suffering severe head and chest injuries in the August 27 accident.

Doctors had said Licitra crashed his scooter into a wall near the town of Ragusa, apparently after suffering an interruption of blood to the brain.

“So very sad to say goodbye to Salvatore Licitra. I will miss you,” soprano Deborah Voigt, a frequent onstage partner, wrote on her Facebook page.

The singer recalled that Licitra was her “first Dick Johnson”, referring to the tenor role in Puccini’s La Fanciulla del West at the San Francisco Opera in 2010.

Italian state TV, when giving the news of the popular singer’s death, said that Licitra was considered to be “Pavarotti’s heir”.