Pavarotti's Widow Breaks Silence on Will

ROME — Luciano Pavarotti's widow has broken her silence to speak for the first time about her bitter will dispute with the opera singer's children.

Nicoletta Mantovani, 38, said that she had reached an agreement in the multimillion-pound wrangle with the three daughters "in honor of Luciano" and disclosed that she is about to make a film on his life.

Pavarotti, who died last September from pancreatic cancer at age 71, left a fortune estimated to be worth nearly $500 million in property, shares, and royalties.

Ms. Mantovani was involved in a dispute over the will with Lorenza, Cristina, and Giuliana, his three daughters from a previous marriage. Under Italian law, she legally inherited half of the estate, while the rest was divided between the three older daughters and Alice, the child she had with Pavarotti shortly after they married in 2004.

However, the three daughters immediately contested the will as they felt they had been "short-changed." It was then disclosed that a second will existed, which left everything Pavarotti owned in America to his wife.

Ms. Mantovani, who had not spoken in public since October, when she announced she was suffering from multiple sclerosis, said: "These last few months have been poisoned by stupid controversy.

"The more time passed, the more we realized that Luciano would not have wanted any of this eternal fighting. In the end we did what my husband wanted, and so that's what we did in his honor: We found an agreement, and we divided the inheritance happily."