Pavarotti was famously booed off the stage during a performance of "La Scala" in 1992.

"His voice cracked," Weymouth recalls, "and I thought the booing was bad, but he told me he deserved it. He wasn't precious at all."

I also once heard that Pavarotti had subtly transposed an aria so that he didn't have to reach the high notes, but an Italian audience could tell (familiar as they are with their classics) and booed him for that. But I cannot find anything to substantiate that recollection.

My point is that a great voice will decline and his started to noticeably go many years ago.

But the emotion he conveyed was truly magnificent, even on CD.

From a 1993 interview with Mike Wallace --

Asked if he was hurt about the speculation that he is entering the twilight of his career or that he is lazy, Pavarotti admitted, "You want to know something? I am lazy."

Here's a side note on Renee Flemming --

IN 1998 YOU WERE BOOED AT LA SCALA BUT RETURNED TO PERFORM AT THE OPERA HOUSE SEVEN MONTHS LATER. HOW WAS THAT? I felt if I didn't go back, the experience would loom larger in my memory, and I needed to step up to the plate. It is a lot like getting back on a horse that has thrown you. But Pavarotti was booed there, and he never went back. [Opera at La Scala] is a little bit like a sports event, with fans shouting at their teams.