Pavarotti picnics in Hyde Park

Rehearsals at the English National Opera on Friday

Opera star Luciano Pavarotti has spoken of his love of London's Hyde Park ahead of his gala concert there on Saturday.

The singer last appeared at the venue 10 years ago for a concert attended by Diana, Princess of Wales.

It's London. It's raining five times a day

Luciano Pavarotti

Speaking at a rehearsal with the English National Opera, he said: "It is a beautiful place. I have very fond memories of that show.

"People were there for a picnic and it was just a fantastic day."

This time he will be performing in front of an estimated 70,000 fans at Pavarotti's Picnic in the Park.

He added: "Acoustically, Hyde Park is generally very good and I hope to make a good concert."

But he remains sceptical about the British weather.

He joked: "It's London. It's raining five times a day. This morning it was three rain and two sunny."

The concert, sponsored by the Prince's Trust, will feature work by Puccini, Mozart and Verdi among others.

Pavarotti also announced that he would return to London in January 2002 to perform Tosca at Covent Garden.

Olympics

The singer recently performed in Beijing to promote its successful bid to host the 2008 Olympic Games.

A spokesman said: "He had a great time there performing with Domingo and Carreras and afterwards they had lunch with the president.

"He is very aware of the human rights problems in the country, he feels that it's a good thing for it to be brought into the world community and that this will help promote peace.

"He is an official UN ambassador for peace and he feels that the answer to the human rights problems in China is for the country to become more a part of the world family.

"He thinks that this can only help to change things in China."