It was the first time the already world-famous tenors José Carreras, Plácido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti and conductor Zubin Mehta had performed together in the United States. They had first performed together on stage at the Baths of Caracalla in Rome before the 1990 Football World Cup.
The 104 strong Los Angeles Philharmonic was joined by the members of the Los Angeles Music Center Opera Chorus. In 1994 recent Music Directors of the LA Phil had been: Zubin Mehta (1962 -1978), Carlo Maria Giulini (1978-1984), and André Previn (1985 -1989).
Selected for its natural acoustic properties and beautiful setting, with the Californian mountains and desert as backdrop, it took 600 technicians and craftsmen, working round the clock for six days, to transform Dodger Stadium into a neo-classical environment. There were designers from three continents - Europe, North America and Australia - with six different set design and construction companies working together to create the stage and scenic backdrop. The stage roof, podium and risers were designed and built in Australia. 2,500 cans of paint were used. Thousands of trees, shrubs and flowers native to Southern California surrounded the stage, which was 55 meters wide and 37 meters deep. The stage was framed by 20 classical Hungarian built columns 13 meters high. 75 trucks transported the steel and wood needed to build the stage.
A state of the art sound system, developed by Tibor Rudas and Luciano Pavarotti, was used, following 12 months study of the stadium’s acoustics by sound designers and engineering specialists. It provided just the right level of support for the voices and the orchestra.
