Andrea Bocelli took to the Etihad Park stage on Thursday night with a repertoire of opera classics in addition to tracks from his latest solo album, Believe.
Having spent most of the year on the road, Bocelli was unsurprisingly in fine form with his eclectic, multilingual set.
In addition to his much-loved arias, such as Giuseppe Verdi's La Donna e Mobile and Giacomo Puccini's Nessun Dorma, Bocelli, backed by an orchestra, tipped his hat to more modern singers and songwriters such as Leonard Cohen (Hallelujah) and composers Rodgers and Hammerstein with You'll Never Walk Alone.
Scroll through the gallery above for more pictures from Andrea Bocelli's Abu Dhabi concert
In an interview with The National prior to the concert, he hailed the region's cultural dynamism for allowing relatively niche genres such as opera to flourish.
“I believe that the quality and quantity of music festivals, individual shows, and the artists involved are a testament to the region's hard work to establish itself as a destination for classical music,” he said.
“I am thrilled that in such a special land, where you can grasp both the power of nature and the ingenuity and dynamism of modern man, such ample space is given to culture, classical music, and opera singing — including a repertoire that is the peculiar product of Italian creativity developed over centuries.”
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