John,
I actually think the underlying mechanism has some foundation in what many people call "chest" voice. I put that in quotes because it of course is resonating in the head despite the mechanics of the larynx.
Many tenor pedagogues might call this head voice, and that's fine with me, but it's definitely different from falsetto, and it's also probably different from the light head voice that countertenors use.
The only note I heard that I think crosses over into a different (lighter) laryngeal mechanism is the very last one in your clip. Pavarotti uses that register to go past high C# when singing the very high rep. IMO it's the same voice as used by countertenors. He's very good at switching back and forth to this voice, even high in his range.
Tako Oda Countertenor
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