On Saturday 10 October 2026, the Victoria Hall in Geneva hosts "Hommage à Luciano Pavarotti", an opera gala entirely dedicated to the tenor who, more than anyone else, brought Italian opera before a global audience. On the podium will be Plácido Domingo, leading the Orchestra Filarmonica Pugliese, while tenor Vittorio Grigolo and soprano Varduhi Khachatryan lend their voices to the most beloved pages of the repertoire. The event, scheduled for 8 p.m., is part of the Geneva Festival season.
The programme spans more than a century of Italian music, from the great operatic arias to the popular melodies that Pavarotti had made famous around the world. It opens with the overture to "L'elisir d'amore" by Donizetti and his most famous page, "Una furtiva lagrima", then moves into the heart of Puccini's work with the intermezzo from "Manon Lescaut", "E lucevan le stelle" and "Vissi d'arte" from "Tosca" and the duet "O soave fanciulla" from "La bohème". There is also room for "Io son l'umile ancella" from Cilea's "Adriana Lecouvreur", Leoncavallo's "Mattinata" and the celebrated intermezzo from Mascagni's "Cavalleria rusticana". In the second part, the evening opens up to song and the great international songbook, with "My Way", "Summertime", "Volare", "Amarcord", "Caruso" and "Non ti scordar di me", all the way to the beloved "O sole mio" that for decades closed the concerts of the tenor from Modena.
Conducting the orchestra will be Plácido Domingo, one of the symbolic voices of twentieth-century opera and, together with Pavarotti and José Carreras, part of the legendary trio of the Three Tenors that filled stadiums around the world in the 1990s. The Spanish artist has long combined his work as a singer with that of a conductor, and in Geneva he will lead the Orchestra Filarmonica Pugliese in a tribute that ideally links two generations of performers.
Alongside Domingo will be Vittorio Grigolo, among the most acclaimed Italian tenors of his generation and often described as one of Pavarotti's natural heirs for the brightness of his timbre and his stage presence. At his side, soprano Varduhi Khachatryan, a leading voice on the international opera scene. Supporting the soloists and shaping the purely instrumental moments, the Orchestra Filarmonica Pugliese accompanies the audience throughout the evening.
Luciano Pavarotti, who passed away in 2007, remains the tenor who brought the wider public closer to opera like no other, carrying "Nessun dorma" into stadiums and into the homes of millions. His voice, his generosity and the ease with which he moved from the opera house to popular song changed the way classical music is experienced. The Geneva gala gathers that legacy, bringing together on the same stage artists who were shaped by his example.
"Hommage à Luciano Pavarotti" will take place on Saturday 10 October 2026 at 8 p.m. at the Victoria Hall in Geneva. Tickets are available through the Geneva Festival and the City of Geneva cultural ticket office, as well as at Ticketcorner sales points.
