The late Luciano Pavarotti used to keep "secret caches" of pasta at the side of the stage so he could snack between songs.
Luciano Pavarotti loved food
The legendary tenor - who died of pancreatic cancer in 2001 aged 71 - had an "insatiable appetite" and insisted on having food tucked out of sight from the audience so he could indulge his hunger mid-concert.
Sources told the New York Post newspaper's Page Six column that, during a backstage tour of the Metropolitan Opera House, director Peter Gelb told guests: “Pavarotti, who had an insatiable appetite, often kept secret caches of his favourite pasta in the wings so that he could wander off stage between arias and have a snack.”
The director was giving the tour for friends of society grand dame Barbara Tober, who is set to be honoured at the annual On Stage at The Met Gala on May 20.
Back in 1976, Pavarotti told how he'd gone on a diet with the help of medical staff in Modena, who allowed him 1,800 calories a day including just 60 grams of pasta.
He noted to the New York Times newspaper at the time: “One sixth of what I had been eating.
“But I can have everything… It’s just that everything now must be little.”
The Italian opera singer also spoke of how much he loved eating.
He said: "One of the very best things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating."