Ah! mes amis

Things go wrong for Pavarotti as he attempts to sing the aria that made him famous, in the same auditorium, almost a quarter of a century after first doing so. He is 60 years old and manages to plough through 'Ah, mes amis!', but runs into trouble during 'Pour mon ame', despite the conspicuous transposition.

This is a saddening recording; he cancelled after the first act. He did sing the rest of the performances in their entirety, however; the failures here are partially due to illness.

Edoardo Muller conducts the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, stunningly, I might add.