Luciano Pavarotti & Friends – For War Child (1996)

Pavarotti & Friends was a series of benefit concerts hosted by Italian operatic tenor Luciano Pavarotti between 1992 and 2003 in his home town of Modena, Italy. Proceeds from the events were donated to humanitarian causes including the international aid agency War Child and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The concerts featured Pavarotti performing with special musical guests and each concert was released as a compilation album and DVD under London Records/Decca Records.

The Pavarotti & Friends for War Child concert was held on 20 June 1996. Proceeds from the concert were donated to the international aid agency, War Child, specifically in aid of children in Bosnia. The concert featured guest performances by Elton John, Sheryl Crow, Eric Clapton, Liza Minnelli and Joan Osborne. The compilation arrived at position 19 in Danish Chart. (wikipedia)

Eclecticism, rendered with more good nature than real accomplishment, is the key characteristic of this mixed bag of performers gathering together in Modena, Italy, Luciano Pavarotti’s hometown, for a benefit concert for Bosnian children. Actually, the pop stars, notably Eric Clapton and Elton John, come off better than the host. Sheryl Crow doesn’t embarrass herself duetting on Mozart with Pavarotti nearly as much as Pavarotti does duetting with Liza Minnelli on “New York, New York.” With plenty of Italian pop and competent but unexceptional Anglo-American hits to accompany the classical musings, there’s something here to bore nearly everyone, though the idea, of course, is to have something to intrigue everyone enough to buy a copy and help the charity. (by William Ruhlmann)

Personnel:
Eric Clapton – Luciano Pavarotti – Joan Osborne – Elton John – Liza Minnelli – Zucchero – Sheryl Crow – Ligabue – Jon Secada – The Kelly Family – Litfiba – Solis String Quartet – Paco De Lucia,  Al Di Meola & John McLaughlin
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Orchestra conducted by Rob Mathes (on 01. + 16.)
Orchestra conducted by José Molina (on 02,, 05.)
Orchestra conducted by Anne Dudley (on 17.)
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East London Gospel Choir (on 01. + 16.)

Tracklist:
01. Eric Clapton & Luciano Pavarotti: Holy Mother (Clapton/Bishop) 5.38
02. Joan Osborne: Saint Teresa (Bazilian/Osborne/Chertoff/Hyman) 5.41
03. Elton John: I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues (Johnstone/John/Taupin) 4.39
04. Liza Minnelli & Luciano Pavarotti: New York, New York (Kander/Ebb) 3.53
05. Zucchero: My Love (Il Volo) (Fornaciari/Palladino/MacDonald) 5.37
06. Sheryl Crow & Eric Clapton: Run, Baby, Run (Bottrell/Baerwald/Crow) 6.09
07. Ligabue & Luciano Pavarotti: Certe Notti (Ligabue) 4.18
08. Jon Secada: Angel (Secada/Morejon) 4.53
09. The Kelly Family & Luciano Pavarotti: Ave Maria (Gounod/Bach) 2.24
10. Litfiba: Spirito (Renzulli/Pelù) 4.48
11. Eric Clapton: Third Degree (Boyd/Dixon) 4.49
12. Sheryl Crow & Luciano Pavarotti: Là Ci Darem La Mano (Don Giovanni) (Da Ponte/ Mozart) 3.13
13. Edoardo Bennato & Solis String Quartet: Le Regazze Fanno Grandi Sogni (Bennato) 3.17
14. Jon Secada & Luciano Pavarotti: Grenada (Lara) 3.18
15. Paco De Lucia,  Al Di Meola & John McLaughlin: Mediterranean Sundance (Di Meola) .4.14
16. Joan Osborne & Luciano Pavarotti: Gesù Bambino (Martens/Yon) 3.51
17. Elton John, Luciano Pavarotti & Ensemble: Live Like Horses (John/Taupin) 4.59

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More from Luciano Pavarotti:

Luciano Pavarotti – Pavarotti & Friends (1993)

Luciano Pavarotti Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI (12 October 1935 – 6 September 2007) was an Italian operatic tenor who during the late part of his career crossed over into popular music, eventually becoming one of the most acclaimed and loved tenors of all time. He made numerous recordings of complete operas and individual arias, gaining worldwide fame for his tone, and achieving the honorific title “King of the High Cs”.

As one of the Three Tenors, who performed their first concert during the 1990 FIFA World Cup before a global audience, Pavarotti became well known for his televised concerts and media appearances. From the beginning of his professional career as a tenor in 1961 in Italy to his final performance of “Nessun dorma” at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Pavarotti was at his best in bel canto operas, pre-Aida Verdi roles, and Puccini works such as La bohème, Tosca, Turandot and Madama Butterfly. He sold over 100 million records, and the first Three Tenors recording became the best-selling classical album of all time. Pavarotti was also noted for his charity work on behalf of refugees and the Red Cross, amongst others. He died from pancreatic cancer on 6 September 2007.

Pavarotti & Friends was a series of benefit concerts hosted by Italian operatic tenor Luciano Pavarotti between 1992 and 2003 in his home town of Modena, Italy. Proceeds from the events were donated to humanitarian causes including the international aid agency War Child[1] and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The concerts featured Pavarotti performing with special musical guests[3] and each concert was released as a compilation album and DVD under London Records/Decca Records.
Ten benefit concerts were held between 1992 and 2003. The concerts have been broadcast in various countries and each concert was released as a compilation album and DVD under London Records/Decca Records. The Pavarotti & Friends Collection: The Complete Concerts, 1992–2000, a DVD featuring the first eight concerts, was released in November 2002 under Decca.

The first Pavarotti & Friends concert was held on 27 September 1992, featuring guest stars Sting, Bob Geldof, Brian May and Mike Oldfield. A compilation album and DVD was released under Decca Records. The compilation album sold 120,000 units in the US and around 1.5 million units worldwide. (wikipedia).

From left: journalist Vincenzo Mollica, Luciano Pavarotti, Lucio Dalla & Zucchero (1992):

On the one hand a nice mixture of different music styles, on the other hand this music is too weak and shallow for me … not my kind of stuff !

Recorded live at the Venue Parco Novi Sad, Modena, Italy, September 27, 1992

Personnel:
Orchestra da Camera “Arcangelo Corelli conducted by Aldo Sisillo

Tracklist:
01. Luciano Pavarotti & Sting: Panis Angelicus (Franck) 3.52
02. Luciano Pavarotti & Zucchero: Miserere (Bono/Zucchero) 4.14
03. Zucchero & Sting: Muoio Per Te (Sting/Zucchero) 3.54
04. Luciano Pavarotti & Lucio Dalla: Caruso (Dalla) 5.19
05. Neville Brothers: One More Day (C. Neville/Wolinski/G. Neville) 4.41
06. Aaron Neville: Ave Maria (Schubert) 4.40
07. Suzanne Vega: In Liverpool (Vega) 4.38
08. Mike Oldfield: Sentinel (Oldfield) 3.53
09. Zucchero: L’Urlo (Brown/Moss/Zucchero) 3.20
10. Brian May: Too Much Love Will Kill You (May/Lamers/Musker) 4.28
11. Sting: It’s Probably Me (Clapton/Kamen/Sting) 5.01
12. Bob Geldof: Room 19 (Geldof) 4.40
13. Patricia Kaas: Les Hommes Qui Passent (Kaas) 3.39
14. Luciano Pavarotti, Lucio Dalla, Brian May, Zucchero & Sting: La Donna E’ Mobile (Piave/Verdi) 2.25

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