Met Closes Out Its Season Sans an Ailing Pavarotti

NEW YORK — Luciano Pavarotti kept his fans guessing until the last minute Saturday before announcing he was too ill with the flu to perform at the Metropolitan Opera’s season finale.

The singer’s withdrawal from the performance of Puccini’s “Tosca” seemed to signal that the curtain had fallen on his Met career, which began in 1968.

Met general manager Joseph Volpe said Pavarotti told him Saturday afternoon that he would perform, then called back two hours later to say he would not. Volpe said he asked Pavarotti to appear even if he could not sing and was told, “I cannot do that.”

On Wednesday night, Pavarotti, 66, canceled his appearance in the same opera at the last minute, citing poor health. He has no engagements scheduled at the Met after this season, although he remains scheduled for future arena concerts and recitals.

For Saturday night, the company was taking no chances, especially with nonrefundable ticket prices ranging from $75 to $1,875--up from the usual $30 to $265--and a live simulcast planned on a giant screen in the Lincoln Center plaza.

As a backup, the management flew in Italian tenor Salvatore Licitra on the Concorde from Europe. He received a 43-second ovation at the conclusion of his first big aria, “Recondita Armonia.”

The uncertainty over Pavarotti created a buzz more commonly associated with rock or movie stars.

“Fat Man Won’t Sing,” blared the front-page headline in the New York Post on Friday. The New York Times quoted an acquaintance Saturday as saying the ailing tenor was “barricaded in his apartment