David Nolan

Live from Glyndebourne 1987.

Marking the 40th anniversary of winning a singing competition as part of a choir from his hometown of Modena in 1955, Luciano Pavarotti keeps a long-held promise and returns to the small town in North Wales to give a very special gala concert at the 1995 Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod. Joining Pavarotti that evening is the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Leone Magiera, the modern day Corale Gioachino Rossini, Modena, directed by Paolo Rossini, and, for the finale, Japanese soprano Atzuko Kawahara. The program combines popular operatic arias and choruses, Neapolitan songs, one of Pavarotti’s own compositions, orchestral overtures and interludes, and a very special duet for the finale.

Adapted from Charles O'Neal's 1949 book, this follows the lighthearted adventures of a late 19th Century young man named Jamie McGrew, the three wishes granted to him in a dream by a fairy queen, and the unusual way they come true. His first is for travel (he goes from Ireland to a life of horse trading in Georgia); his second, to marry the girl of his dreams; the third, a son with the gift of poetry and the ability to speak in the ancient Gaelic tongue.