Salvatore Licitra, 43, Hailed as the 
Next Pavarotti, Dies

Photo from Licitra's CD, The Debut, released by SONY 2002

Salvatore Licitra, often called the heir to Luciano Pavarotti, died on September 5 in Catania, Sicily, after nine days in a coma, from injuries sustained in a motor-scooter. He was 43.

A cerebral hemorrhage may have caused him to lose control of his Vespa, according to his website salvatorelicitra.com.

He suffered severe head and chest injuries. His girlfriend who rode with him was unharmed.

Born in Bern Switzerland of Sicilian parents on Aug. 10, 1968, Licitra grew up in Milan. At 18 he worked as a graphic artist for Italian Vogue in Milan. A year later, at the urging of his mother, he enrolled at the Parma Conservatory. Later he studied with tenor Carlo Bergonzi and continued working at the graphics shop he founded with his brother.

Licitra made his stage debut in 1998 in a student production of Un Ballo in Maschera in Parma. An impressive performance in Un Ballo in Verona earned him an audition with Ricardo Muti, currently the music director of the Chicago Symphony. This led to the role of Alvaro, in La Forza del Destino at Milan’s La Scala in 1999 and Tosca in 2000. He made his United States debut at the Richard Tucker Music Foundation Opera Gala as a guest soloist in 2001 in New York.

Licitra came to New York in May 2002 as an eleventh hour replacement for the ailing Pavarotti, in Puccini’s Tosca at the Metropolitan Opera.

Pavarotti had agreed to do two farewell performances but missed the first one due to illness. His understudy performed adequately. Fearing another fiasco and seeking a stronger back up the Met contacted Licitra in Milan.

Licitra took the Concorde from London to New York and arrived in the city at 9 a.m. That day he spent 12 hours rehearsing and studying videos before retiring to his Central Park South hotel suite not knowing if Pavarotti would sing the following night.

The next day Licitra walked around Central Park to ease his tension. When he arrived at the Met he reviewed more tapes still unaware of Pavarotti's status. One hour before curtain he learned Pavaroti would not perform. He met conductor James Levine, for the first time, thirty minutes before the opening.

Before a packed house with seats going for as much as $1875, plus a few thousand people watching on a large screen on the Lincoln Center Plaza, Licitra wowed the audience. They responded by giving him lengthy ovations at the conclusion of arias,  “Recondita armonia” and “E lucevan le stelle” and a three-minute ovation at the end. The Washington Post reported critics applauded Licitra for his “powerful impression," “long lyrical arcs,” “exciting voice,” in a “star-is-born performance.”

In his passing Peter Gelb, the general manager of the Met, called Licitra one of the greatest natural talents of his generation.

Inconsistent performances throughout his career attributed to vocal strain and poor technique left many wondering if he would ever fulfill his potential of becoming the “fourth tenor” (joining Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, and Jose Carreras. Although he never reached their level Licitra played important roles in all the major houses including Paris, London, Vienna, San Francisco and Chicago.

Under the Sony label he recorded The Debut, Duetto with Argentine tenor Marcelo Alvarez, and Forbidden Love. He sang the soundtrack for The Man Who Cried which starred Cate Blanchett and Johnny Depp.

While dining at a favorite haunt of Met singers after his Met debut Licitra was asked “How is this night different from others.” He replied “Tonight I sit at the maestro’s table. Before I used to sit in the back.”

His parents and brother survive him.

Tenor Salvatore Licitra sing's Mario Cavaradossi's act I aria from Puccini's Tosca from a 2000 La Scala Production, conducted by Carlo Muti. The Sacrestan is played by Alfredo Mariotti. (Ed.note: Licitra at his best)

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsYMXQXsx30 

REMEMBERING THE MAYOR OF NINTH AVENUE

James Columbus Hicks, known to hundreds of people he greeted everyday as the mayor of Ninth Avenue, died on May 12, at 81.
Mr. Hicks died in front of his home, The Whitby,
on West 45th Street. The cause of death was a heart attack.

A fixture on Ninth Avenue for years, his domain stretched from 42nd to 45th streets. From six a.m. to early evening Mr. Hicks frequented the 44th Street Newsstand, Westway diner, Bread Factory and his favorite place, Thrift and New Shoppe on 43rd where he chatted with friends, strangers and tourists.

Many people are given labels such as mayor or chairman of the board but Mr. Hicks earned his distinction. Kind, gracious, with a warm and generous personality that engulfed all who knew him, Mr. Hicks had the ability of changing one's nightmarish day into one filled with seashells and balloons. He had a brilliant smile and a hearty, infectious laugh.

Furaha Moye, a niece, described Mr. Hicks as generous, dependable, trustworthy, loving and witty. "He was always ready to help a friend," she said.

You chuckled whenever you heard Mr. Hicks call out to a fifty plus year-old man "Hey kid! Have a good day" followed with a handshake or fist tap with the person he greeted. Spry, charming, and a true gentleman Mr. Hicks was popular with the ladies. He would eagerly hug an octogenarian as he would a twenty-something and greet all with "Who is this beautiful gal."

A world War II veteran and a member of the Service Employees International Union. Mr. Hicks called Clinton/Hell's Kitchen home for the past 40 years.

Born in Richmond, Virginia, the youngest of five children, Mr. Hicks, a lifelong bachelor, had no children but was a godfather to several.

At his funeral service at Holy Cross Church, his goddaughter Christiana, battling back tears, spoke eloquently about how much he meant to her.

"He was like a father. He was always there for me," she said. Christiana recounted how Mr. Hick's would wait with her for the school bus every morning. "If I was running late James would make the bus driver wait. He never let the bus leave without me."

Minas Demetri, owner of the Thrift and New Shoppe, knew Mr. Hicks for over 20 years. "He was very upbeat and full of energy. One day he walked into my shop and he never left. From that day on we became great friends. He was well liked by everyone. He had a wonderful personality," Mr. Demetri said.

"He did so many things for me. He went to the bank, he swept the sidewalk but more importantly he kept me company. He was like family."

Mr. Hicks wore straw hats or fedoras. He enjoyed wearing dressy tropical shirts with bright floral patterns. He had style and class. At his funeral at Holy Cross Church,
Metropolitan Opera star Aprile Millo sang the Ava Maria and The Lord's Prayer.

He was an avid collector of art deco vases, African figurines and elephants. "He loved elephants," Mr. Minas said. He had elephants made of gold, ceramic, wood, some were small, others two feet high.

In the early 1990's, after he collected his 500th elephant Mr. Hicks threw a caviar and Moet Chandon party in his apartment. "We had a fun time," Mr. Demetri said. "He threw another party after he collected his 1000th elephant. He probably had over 1600, all with the trunk up. Just like the life he led, always looking up, always looking at the brighter side."

Besides his niece Furaha Moye, Mr. Hicks is survived by his sister, Ernestine Moye, both of Rochester, NY; and nieces Jeanine Taylor of Brodentown NJ, and Paula Taylor of Baltimore; nephews Sylvester and Blair Taylor, of Baltimore, and Paul Hicks of Washington, DC.

*PHOTO: JOSE ARROYO, SEATED, WITH JAMES COLUMBUS HICKS