Pavarotti told a news conference that his first concert outside Italy was in Belgrade 44 years ago.
Forty four years ago I had an audition in Venice at which they sought a tenor who would sing in La Traviata in Belgrade. I told myself to try and I was selected. Then I travelled to Belgrade. That was my first concert outside Italy. Today I am again in Belgrade. I can see that much has been changed but I am happy to have one of my last concerts in the city where I began my international career," Pavarotti said.
Asked by a reporter what it meant to him to be an ambassador of good will the famous opera singer answered that he was very proud of it.
I will try to do my best serving this function. What a singer can only do is to sing and gather his colleagues, particularly pop signers and raise funds for war victims. I did that for the first time 12 years ago in Bosnia. Since then I have been doing it all over the world, Pavarotti said.