You don’t have to be an opera lover to know, and perhaps even be able to hum along, with Nessun Dorma. Luciano Pavarotti made the aria from Puccini’s Turandot virtually a pop hit when he sang it at the ancient Baths of Caracalla in Rome on the eve of the 1990 FIFA World Cup Final. However, you might also enjoy this unusual rendition complete with social distancing and a new libretto written especially for today’s strange times.

Back in 1990, the image of three tenors – Pavarotti along with Plácido Domingo and José Carreras (Zubin Metha conducting) – in formal evening dress singing in a World Cup concert captivated a global audience and the recording of this debut concert became the best-selling classical album of all time. The trio went on to perform to a global television audience at three further World Cup Finals, in Los Angeles, Paris, and Yokohama and at numerous concerts (including Toronto) around the world.

Here’s the ‘Coronavirus’ version:

And here’s Luciano Pavarotti at the Baths of Caracalla: