No more than 100,000 of China's 1.3 billion people have been to a classical Western opera. However, one out of every 10 Chinese knows the name Luciano Pavarotti.

The legendary Italian tenor has had an enormous influence on the country, although he has only performed here twice.

But Chinese fans are expecting to hear him again. The country will host three of Pavarotti's 40 worldwide farewell concerts, which started earlier this year and will end next July.

The China leg of Pavarotti's Farewell Tour includes a show at Hong Kong's Convention and Exhibition Center on December 2, one at the Shanghai Grand Theatre on December 6 and the last at Beijing's Capital Gymnasium on December 10.

The program will include ballads-with-piano, arias and duets from his signature operas, such as La Bohemia and Tosca, and a number of Neapolitan songs by Tosti and others all music that he sings with his inimitable panache.

The inevitable encores are expected to be "Granada" and "O sole mio."

The orchestra from the China Central Opera Theatre will accompany the singer in China. There will also be the young soprano Simona Todaro and master conductor and pianist Leone Magiera, with whom Pavarotti runs a teaching faculty in Modena, Italy, for young opera students.

Pavarotti paid his first visit to China in 1986. He performed "La Bohemia" with the Genoa Opera at Beijing's Tianqiao Theatre and also gave a recital concert at the Great Hall of the People.

In June 2001, Pavarotti returned to perform the Three Tenors' Concert with Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras at the Forbidden City to support Beijing's bid for the 2008 Olympic Games.

"China is special to me," Pavarotti told Cangming Culture Co Ltd, organizer of the Beijing concert. "My first concert in China in 1986 has left me with a good memory. It was a great honour to be the first vocal artist to perform in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing."

During that trip, he also visited the Central Conservatory of Music. He said he was impressed by Chinese culture and traditional music.

A household name for most of his amazing career, the tenor's life has been the stuff of legends from the moment he debuted as Rodolfo in the small opera house in the north Italian town of Reggio Emilia in 1961.

By 1972 he was the toast of New York, starring in Donizetti's "Daughter of the Regiment." His seven top C's and 17 curtain-calls are said to be documented in the Guinness Book of Records.

Broadening the horizons of classical music and bringing in untold numbers of new fans, his thrilling voice and unique personality have touched countless people throughout the world. He has sold more albums than any other classical artist over 100 million.

Early last year, he gave his final operatic performance at New York's Metropolitan Opera House in the role of Cavaradossi in Puccini's "Tosca."

On October 12, Pavarotti celebrated his 70th birthday.

"I've had 44 years of singing and it's time to stop," Pavarotti said.

Although fans have encouraged him to go on, he said: "It's time for me to go back to my daughter. I have something else to do. I have to teach.

"I have recently celebrated four decades of singing. I am a true fanatic and am extraordinarily lucky to have been given the opportunity to experience one of the most amazing careers it is possible for an opera singer to have," he said.

"This farewell tour will be very emotional I am looking forward to travelling around the world meeting many of the colleagues and friends I have made throughout my career and performing for audiences for the last time."

However, despite the fact that his fans around the world are looking forward to him singing, one question remains.

Can the "king of the high C's" still reach the terrific high C's?

Some veteran fans here in Beijing and local critics are reserving their opinions.

According to Lun Bing, a critic with Beijing Youth Daily, who interviewed Pavarotti in Stuttgart last month, the 70-year-old tenor was clearly in less than full health and has become as massive of girth as he once was talented.

He needed help to enter and leave the room, using the shoulder of an assistant as a crutch.

Reports from the singer's tour last month in Australia have been mixed. The tenor sat for a good deal of the concert, sheltering in the curve of a grand piano. Some critics said his sometimes-laboured breathing does not allow him to recapture the extraordinary beauty and agility of his youthful legato. Some reports told of sneezing during arias and strain in the top register.

But other reports said that he could still reach the top C's when needed, and he did not hide behind easy pieces. The vintage Pavarotti was impressive in Recondita armonia, which was "fluid, sweet, glowing, a thrill to hear," one local Australian critic commented.

Many think he has maintained his formidable technique and that his best will still be breathtaking. Fans hope he will convey his astonishing warmth and musicality to his final audiences.

(China Daily November 29, 2005)