Pavarotti lip-synced last performance

TURIN, Italy, April 8 (UPI) -- Ailing opera great Luciano Pavarotti lip-synced his last performance at the winter Olympics in Turin two years ago, conductor Leone Magiera said in a new book.

Magiera wrote in "Pavarotti Visto Da Vicino (Pavarotti Seen From Close Up)" the tenor's performance of the aria "Nessun Dorma" was prerecorded because a live performance would have been "too dangerous," as he wasn't feeling well as the time, the BBC said.

Pavarotti was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer months after the performance in the summer of 2006 and died from the disease in September 2007.

"The orchestra pretended to play, I pretended to conduct and Luciano pretended to sing," Magiera wrote. "It came off beautifully, no one was aware of the technical tricks."

Terri Robson, Pavarotti's former manager, said the famed performer's voice was "in great shape ... but because of the extreme late-night temperature in Turin in February, for both him and the orchestra, it was decided that the only way to make it work was for him to pre-record."