The night sky over Rome when The Three Tenors first sang

On 7 July 1990, José Carreras, Plácido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti sang together for the first time, in the ruins of the Baths of Caracalla in Rome. Zubin Mehta conducted.

The concert took place on the eve of the World Cup final in Rome. It was also a celebration of Carreras's return to singing after he recovered from leukaemia.

Sky chart of the night sky above Rome, Italy at 10:25 pm on 7 July 1990
Make a print of this sky

The sky above Rome, Italy on 7 July 1990

The sky was almost fully dark, with a trace of twilight left. There was a full Moon in the sky, 100% lit. It stood 13° above the horizon in the south-east, in the constellation Sagittarius. Saturn was above the horizon and could be seen without a telescope.

The sky is almost fully dark, but a trace of twilight still hides the faintest stars.

Local time
10:25 pm
Time in UTC
7 July 1990 at 8:25 pm UTC
Sun
Astronomical twilight
Sun position
15° below the horizon
Moon phase
full Moon
Moon lit
100%
Moon position
13° above the horizon in the south-east

What happened that night

The three singers took turns with famous arias and joined for a medley at the end. Pavarotti sang 'Nessun dorma', and all three sang it again together as an encore.

The open-air stage stood among the walls of public baths built in the early 200s AD.

Why people remember it

The recording of the concert became one of the best-selling classical albums of all time. It brought opera to many people who had never heard it before.

A star map of this night makes a gift for an opera lover, a singer, or a couple who fell in love in Rome.

Questions about this night

More famous nights

See the sky on any date