A rapturous crowd lap up the three tenors

The concert given by the three tenors, José Carreras, Placido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti on Friday evening at the Champs-de-Mars beneath the suitably decorated Eiffel tower, proved to be a great success in terms of attendance and quality. The tenors seductive tones rose up to the starry heavens, charming and earning the admiration of the public. While the Paris Orchestra, brilliantly conducted by James Levine, added a good deal of colour and effect to the occasion. The massed public was won over, fascinated by the sublime combination of seraphic voices, heavenly music and the brilliant spectacle.

Of course, it was necessary to watch the concert on the giant screens set up on the Champs-de-Mars, but music’s universal nature was present here in all its glory: lovers held hands, the older generation whistled the operatic airs, parents listened as they kept a watchful eye on their children, a Japanese couple could be seen with their five year old son who was getting his first taste of musical culture. And then there were the others: people out walking their dog, riding their bikes or rollerskating.

Football was set aside for one evening. Although the fans were out in numbers, this time it was to listen to three magnificent tenors. The crowd’s reserve was indeed surprising. And we had to wait until the 15-minute interval before a group of twenty or so Brazilian supporters began to dance and take up the “Brazil, Brazil” chant. This brought the music-lovers at the front to their feet. But soon the music began again and wove its magic in the sumptuous Eiffel Tower setting.

There was also a fair share of those incidents that make these type of gatherings unique. A telephone ringing, a TV camera homing in on a couple wearing eccentric top hats in the colours of the French team, a soft drink salesman going about his business was mimicked by Luciano Pavarotti who took up the cry “cold drinks, 15 francs”. Souvenir sellers had little success selling their programmes at 100 francs and hats at 150 francs: all in all a collection of singular circumstances which made this one-off event a warm and fraternal occasion.

At 23h00, though the concert was not yet over, the crowd, weary of the masses of people, began to make their way to the métro station. A crowd that couldn’t stop talking about what they have just seen. A concert, brought to a dramatic close around midnight with a superb firework display, that will go down in the annals of Paris’ already overloaded cultural track record.