IT WAS a moment that only she believed would ever happen. But the faith and determination of a Scottish widow were rewarded this weekend when world-renowned tenor José Carreras stepped on to an Edinburgh stage, so fulfilling her husband’s dying wish.

The event marked the beginning of a glittering concert that raised thousands of pounds for charity. It also meant the fulfilment of a promise that Betsy Stirling, who invited the tenor to Scotland, had given her husband Hamish as he lay dying two years ago.

The concert, in Edinburgh’s newly renovated Usher Hall, was better than Betsy had ever imagined. Her only regret was that Hamish, who died of leukaemia, was not there to enjoy it.

"It is everything I’d dreamt of and more," said Betsy, 57, as she sat in the Grand Circle with her children, Grigor, Euan and Rhona, and their partners. "It is absolutely fantastic. It’s been very stressful but it’s all been worth it.

"I’m just sad that Hamish is not here to see it. He would have thoroughly enjoyed it."

Carreras, her late husband’s favourite tenor, who famously beat his own leukaemia, had agreed to the concert after receiving the letter Betsy had written to him on the night of Hamish’s death.

"I was touched by the way Betsy wrote to me and I realised that it was a very serious request," he said after the concert, which was attended by First Minister Henry McLeish, Presiding Officer David Steel, and Edinburgh’s Lord Provost, Eric Milligan.

"She and I share common goals. We feel leukaemia should be curable in every case."

More than 2,300 people had paid between £35 and £100 for a ticket to the concert, which raised a record-breaking £312,000 for leukaemia research.

Carreras, who performed free, as did Scottish soprano Lisa Milne, developed the disease himself 12 years ago. But after a successful bone marrow operation the Catalan star, one of the famous Three Tenors alongside Luciano Pavarotti and Plácido Domingo, has made a full recovery.

Betsy’s husband, a Hamilton sheriff who was well-known in Scottish legal circles, was less fortunate, struggling with the debilitating disease for four years before it killed him at the age of 60.

Seeing him suffer made Betsy promise that she would do something to help other leukaemia sufferers. This led her to write to Carreras asking for his help.

"I believed he would come," she said. "People thought I was mad, and people advised me against it, but I had the support of my family.

"I knew it would work. I wanted to do something for people in Scotland with leukaemia and for opera lovers who don’t get the chance to hear people of his stature too often."

Betsy, a keen opera fan, even suggested to Carreras that he might enjoy working alongside the soprano Milne.

"He said that he would like to bring a soprano with him and was delighted with the suggestion that we ask a young, up-and-coming Scottish soprano," she said.

Milne and the Spanish star were joined during the three-hour concert by the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the Glasgow Chorus, conducted by David Gimenez.

They sang a number of pieces from all over the world, ending with the rousing overture Die Fledermaus.

"I thought he was fabulous," said Betsy, looking elegant in a royal blue evening dress.

"I was a little choked at the rehearsal last night, but I have just enjoyed the whole thing. It has been one of the best evenings of my life. Everyone seems thrilled by the evening. There is such a friendly atmosphere."

She said that although her husband would have enjoyed the concert, he would have been embarrassed to know it was in his honour.

"He would have loved hearing his favourite tenor. But he was a very modest man and would have been embarrassed by the fuss."

The money raised will be split between the Leukaemia Research Trust for Scotland, of which Betsy is chair, and José Carreras Leukaemia Foundations.

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