Herbert Breslin (1 October 1924 – 17 May 2012
/ref>) was an American music industry executive. He was influential in the careers of several musicians since the 1960s, the foremost of these being the

tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...

Luciano Pavarotti Luciano Pavarotti (, , ; 12 October 19356 September 2007) was an Italian operatic tenor who during the late part of his career crossed over into popular music, eventually becoming one of the most acclaimed tenors of all time. He made numerou ...

, with whom he started his career.

Work

Breslin was born in the Bronx borough of

New York City, New York New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. He served in the army during World War II. After the war, he attended City College of New York and after graduation, he became a high-school teacher and also began writing advertising copy for small businesses. After submitting samples of his writing to several large corporations, he accepted a position as a speechwriter for the Chrysler Corporation in Detroit, Michigan, where he became a member of the company's public-relations staff. He began his career as a

publicist A publicist is a person whose job is to generate and manage publicity for a company, a brand, or public figure – especially a celebrity – or for a work such as a book, film, or album. Publicists are public relations specialists who ...

and met Luciano Pavarotti, also a former teacher, when both men were only beginning their careers in 1967. Their collaboration resulted in both of them eventually becoming powerful and well known. Breslin's firm also represented

Plácido Domingo José Plácido Domingo Embil (born 21 January 1941) is a Spanish opera singer, conductor, and arts administrator. He has recorded over a hundred complete operas and is well known for his versatility, regularly performing in Italian, French, ...

, and at one time he represented both Pavarotti and Domingo as a publicist. When Breslin decided to become an artist's

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

, he presented the same strategy to both young tenors, who had made their Metropolitan Opera debuts during the same season. Using the career of the legendary tenor

Enrico Caruso Enrico Caruso (, , ; 25 February 1873 – 2 August 1921) was an Italian operatic first lyrical tenor then dramatic tenor. He sang to great acclaim at the major opera houses of Europe and the Americas, appearing in a wide variety of roles (74) ...

as a model, Breslin told Domingo and Pavarotti that like Caruso, each had to appear in concerts across the U.S. so that the public could see and hear them in person. Recordings and television appearances, Breslin cautioned, would not enable the American public to experience their singing personally. Pavarotti readily agreed to Breslin's strategy, but Domingo preferred making recordings and appearing on television to performing on the concert platform. As a result, Breslin had to make a choice between the two and chose Pavarotti. At various times, the firm also represented

Alicia de Larrocha Alicia de Larrocha y de la Calle (23 May 192325 September 2009) was a Spanish pianist and composer. She was considered one of the great piano legends of the 20th century. Reuters called her "the greatest Spanish pianist in history", ''Time'' "o ...

Dame Joan Sutherland Dame Joan Alston Sutherland, (7 November 1926 – 10 October 2010) was an Australian dramatic coloratura soprano known for her contribution to the renaissance of the bel canto repertoire from the late 1950s through to the 1980s. She possess ...

Marilyn Horne Marilyn Horne (born January 16, 1934) is an American mezzo-soprano opera singer. She specialized in roles requiring beauty of tone, excellent breath support, and the ability to execute difficult coloratura passages. She is a recipient of the Natio ...

and many others. In 2002 Pavarotti split with his manager of 36 years, and became associated with the Hungarian impresario

Tibor Rudas Tibor Rudas (6 February 1920 – 8 September 2014), was a Hungarian-born American entrepreneur, known for conceptualising Luciano Pavarotti performances in sports arena settings and later signing the "Three Tenors" José Carreras, Plácido Dom ...

, who produced the international "Three Tenors" concerts. The breakup was followed by the publication of a book by Breslin, along with arts critic

Anne Midgette Anne Midgette (born June 22, 1965) is an American music critic who was the first woman to write classical music criticism regularly for ''The New York Times''. She was the chief classical music critic of ''The Washington Post'' from 2008 to 2 ...

, entitled ''The King & I'' ( Doubleday, 2004), which was seen by many as sensational and overly critical. The book criticized Pavarotti's acting (in

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

), his inability to read music and having to learn roles by rote, and his personal conduct offstage. Breslin, however, always acknowledged Pavarotti's outstanding voice, magnificent career, and positive influence on his own career. Herbert Breslin died on 17 May 2012 at age 87 in

Nice, France Nice ( , ; Niçard dialect, Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agg ...

, and was survived by his wife, the former Carol Gluck, their daughter, Andrea Breslin-Jaffe, their son, Eric Breslin, and four grandchildren.

References

1924 births 2012 deaths American music industry executives People from the Bronx Place of death missing City College of New York alumni United States Army personnel of World War II American publicists United States Army soldiers {{US-music-bio-stub