Naturally, every show on CBC Radio 2 played Pavarotti recordings yesterday. Every time a new one started the boy jumped, turned around to peer up at the stereo, and said, “Hello! What are you doing?”

“That’s Pavarotti,” I said. “He is singing.”

“Oh! Otay.” Then he turned back to the stereo and chirped loudly, “Thank you!”

I’ve never been a Pavarotti fan myself — too much of the superstar thing happening, and besides, I’ve always been ‘meh’ about tenors and tenor arias — but the boy had it right. Thank you for singing. Thank you for making millions of people happy throughout your life. And thank you for sharing your love of music with the world.