LUCIANO Pavarotti yesterday lost a son after his partner suffered complications during the birth of the couple's twins.

Nicoletta Mantovani, 33, had an emergency Caesarean section in a hospital in the Italian city of Bologna in her 31st week of pregnancy.

Doctors had noticed that one of the twins was not receiving any oxygen, but he died before surgeons could deliver him.

Alice, the girl, was said by doctors to be in ''good condition''. She weighed in at just 3lb 12oz, but was breathing on her own.

Pavarotti, 67, who is a grandfather, was at his partner's side for the birth.

Renata Meroni, his spokeswoman, said the tenor was devastated by the death of his son. ''Without a doubt, it's one of the worst days of his life,'' she said.

The twins' birth had been complicated by the presence of an undeveloped third foetus, a rare condition that risked causing spontaneous abortions or even the death of the mother, according to hospital staff.

Ms Mantovani's case was the first worldwide where a baby had survived such complications, according to the hospital doctors. Letizia Maini, a spokeswoman for the Sant'Orsola Polyclinic, said: ''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.''

Alice was Ms Mantovani's first child, but the fourth for Pavarotti, whose three daughters are all from his first

marriage.

Pavarotti, one of the world's top tenors and widely credited with bringing opera to the masses, recently described becoming a father again at

the age of 67 as ''a strange

experience''.

The death of his son comes almost a year to the day after his mother died, aged 86.

Adele Venturi Pavarotti was one of the prime movers behind the tenor's decision to embark on a singing career which took off in 1961 with

his debut in La Boheme in Milan.

Dr Luciano Bovicelli, director of the gynaecological and obstetric clinic at the hospital, said that the complications suffered by Ms Mantovani had only occurred five times worldwide. ''There was the possibility of grave consequences for the mother, for example, haemorrhages,'' he said.

''The complexities and the risks of the pregnancy were explained and with courage and determination Ms Mantovani and maestro Pavarotti took the decision to proceed.''

When Ms Mantovani conceived, three eggs were fertilised but only two developed into embryos. Although two placentas grew, the third non-developing egg, known as a mola, remained in the womb, handicapping the life-support system.

Ms Mantovani went to the hospital on Monday for a check-up, but the doctor was unhappy with her condition and carried out further tests before starting the emergency operation.

The love affair between Ms Mantovani and the opera star took the gossip columns by storm when they began living together in 1996.

His marriage to Adua Veroni, who managed his multi-million pound business affairs, fell apart after the Italian tabloid press published photographs

of Pavarotti kissing his secretary.

Although he denied the rumours of an affair at first, he later divorced his wife, with whom he claims to maintain good relations.

Ms Mantovani has been seen as the driving force behind the revitalising of Pavarotti's career after a hip replacement in 1998.

The singer's weight - at his heaviest he has reached 24 stone - has contributed to a series of health problems in his later years and in 1993 he was forced to cancel six weeks of performances to try to get it under control.

He has credited Ms Mantovani with putting him on a strict eating regime, which has helped him to continue singing.

However, rumours have been rife over recent years that Pavarotti, who, with Jose Carreras and Placido Domingo makes up the celebrated Three Tenors, is thinking of quitting.

Last year, he celebrated the 40th anniversary of his singing debut, but warned he did not intend to celebrate a 50th.

''I will have long retired by then,'' he said. ''I won't sing for much longer, I'm getting tired.''

As the tenor's career draws to a close, it seems increasingly unlikely that he will perform in Scotland again.

His only Scottish concert to date was at the SECC in Glasgow almost 13 years ago.

He thrilled the audience with a performance of, among other arias, Nessum Dorma, the theme tune for the BBC's coverage of that summer's World Cup finals.

That performance was a sell-out, despite tickets priced at (pounds) 75 a head.

Those not quick enough to get a seat in the main theatre were given the option of paying (pounds) 10 to enter an overspill auditorium with a video-link.