It’s World Cup time again! My mind harkens back to that magical World Cup of 1990. That was the year a brilliant man at the BBC named Philip Bernie, made a move that would forever stitch together the worlds of football and opera. (Read Philip’s story here)

Inspired by the Italian location of the tournament and the thrilling climax of the aria: “Vincero -I will win!”, Philip used a recording of Luciano Pavarotti singing Nessun Dorma to accompany his stirring images for the opening sequence of the BBC’s 1990 World Cup coverage.

The song became so popular that summer that it hit number 2 on the UK Singles Chart.

On the eve of the tournament that year, the Three Tenors (Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras), performed their first concert together, re-energizing and re-introducing the beauty of operatic singing to a whole new modern audience. The Three Tenors themselves became an unstoppable worldwide sensation.

The Tenor's concerts became a World Cup tradition that would be repeated at subsequent World Cups (the tournament is held every 4 years) until Luciano Pavorotti’s retirement from public performance.

Myself, I’m not thinking so much about opera when I see and hear this. I think of those young men, the honor of representing their countries laying heavy on them... excited, nervous and unable to sleep... Looking out their hotel room windows in Brazil...Thinking of their elusive princess, be she the goal, the game, the cup... the thrill in their heart as the dawn breaks: “Vincero, vincero, VINCERO!” Click to see the Nessun Dorma Bracelet

Note: The golden dancing women in the video represent the sculpted shape of the World Cup trophy itself, still in use to this day. 

Please enjoy this clip from that First Three Tenors concert!