A video of this program, directed by Spike Lee and including additional songs, is available as London 074 208.

A portion of the proceeds from this recording will be donated to War Child for the construction of a children's village in Liberia.

In June 1998 Luciano Pavarotti and some of his "Friends" put on an all-star gala concert in his home town of Modena, Italy, for his War Child charity, specifically to benefit orphans of the civil war-ravaged African nation of Liberia. The resulting CD, also available on a video directed by Spike Lee, presents an international cast of pop stars joining the great kerchief-waver in a series of high-octane duets and ensembles.

It is all good fun and if, at times, a little campy, it is equally often quite exhilarating just to hear all that energy flowing on stage and through the house. It is also interesting to hear American singers like Vanessa Williams and Stevie Wonder get into some real European-style pop numbers, which have a heightened, almost operatic sense of melodrama. Rather than revealing an opera star out of his element, Pavarotti and his Friends show that there is some common ground between them after all.