Rome, Jan. 14 (Reuters): The partner of opera star Luciano Pavarotti has given birth to a baby girl but a twin brother died in the womb, a hospital spokeswoman told Reuters today.

Nicoletta Mantovani, 33, had an emergency Caesarean section in a Bologna hospital yesterday afternoon in her 31st week of pregnancy but the male twin was starved of oxygen before surgeons could deliver him.

“The pregnancy was a complicated one right from the beginning, and Nicoletta was being constantly monitored. The boy died but she and the baby girl are both doing fine,” hospital spokeswoman Letizia Maini said.

The girl, who weighed less than 2 kg, was the first child for Mantovani but the fourth for 67-year-old Pavarotti, who has three daughters from his former wife.

Pavarotti, one of the world’s top tenors who is widely credited with bringing opera to the masses, was at his partner’s side in Bologna, central Italy, his spokeswoman Renata Meroni said.

Explaining Pavarotti's reaction to the baby boy's death, Meroni said: “Without a doubt it’s one of the worst days of his life.” The death of his son comes almost a year to the day after Pavarotti’s mother died, aged 86.