In spite of the not-so-good weather, good humor and cheerfulness were the trademark of the 23rd performance of the Three Tenors, at the Morumbi Stadium in São Paulo, the largest city in Latin America.

Ever since their arrival, the three were very good-humored and cheerful. During the press conference, they said they were happy to be in Brazil and talked very familiarly about their favorite subject, also a national passion for us Brazilians: soccer, soccer, and soccer.

On Friday they rehearsed at the Teatro Municipal de São Paulo and seemed completely at ease with the repertoire - except for the worldwide famous Aquarela do Brasil", a popular hit of all times. "To sing this well, you've got to have the proper swing", said Domingo, a confessed admirer of the song. Carreras, once again, said smilingly that it is always better "to talk about soccer".

On Thursday and Friday, they relaxed to concentrate for Saturday. Carreras was the first to arrive, back on Wednesday, accompanied by his brother Alberto and his wife. On Saturday night, the weather was doubtful, a vague promise of rain and occasional clouds. The cold finally gave us a break. Anyway, everyone was happy and somewhat anxious for the performance, which was to begin at six p.m. sharp. In fact, it was not until a little past six that the orchestra filled the air with the famous 'Overture' to the opera Il Guarany, by the Brazilian composer Antonio Carlos Gomes. A very colorful and steady beginning. Maestro Marco Armiliato succeeded in capturing the spirit and climate of the melody.

Right afterwards, Carreras took over the stage, with 'Io Conosco un Giardino', by Pietri. Charming, concentrated and powerful, he definitely gave the audience the tune of what a Three Tenors performance is all about. Domingo followed him with a very warm interpretation of 'Ch'ella mi creda' by Puccini, and Pavarotti made the audience go crazy with the always cherished 'Recondita Armonia', from Tosca, by Puccini. The spirit of the night was, in all, gorgeous. Salesmen were all around the stadium, trying to convince people that the rain would certainly come - and, therefore, that they needed to buy raincoats. I resisted and kept repeating to myself, "there'll be no rain. We'll have a wonderful night.

On stage, each one in their turn, the everlasting three kept proving to us that real music is always good and is always capable of capturing all kinds of people. Carreras, magnificent in 'Musica Proibita'; Domingo, strong in 'No Puede Ser'; and Pavarotti, with a new version of 'Granada', were in great integration with the public. Then, the medley - and the audience sang along.

During the intermission, the rain tried hard to get admission, but no chance! In less than five minutes it was over, making the salesmen very sad. Carreras opened again, with his passionate 'Core'ngrato' (Cardillo). This time, Domingo chose the German light repertoire, with 'Dein ist mein ganzes Herz', by Lehar (present since the first Three Tenors, back in 1990). And Pavarotti - surprise! - brought about the popular 'Caruso' tribute, by Lucio Dalla. The public simply loved it.

Then the orchestra came to bring the night to an ecstasy with the 'Bacchanal' from the opera Samson and Dalila, by Saint-Säens. After that, the second and most applauded surprise of the night: José Carreras greeted the public saying that he would proudly change the program to sing 'Intenditi con Dio', an aria from the opera Fosca, by Antonio Carlos Gomes. How thoughtful, and how artistic, and how beautifully did he do this! The audience had little time to recover from such a gorgeous gift; there came Domingo, with 'E lucevan le stelle', and Pavarotti with 'Nessun Dorma'. It was enough magic for the night to be over right at that point - but nobody was quite satiated. The second medley brought several good surprises for fans of Italian, Spanish, and Brazilian music: it started out with 'O surdato'nnamurato' and ended up, after all possible encores, with 'Aquarela do Brasil'. The tenors were exhilarating: a huge mass of people singing and waving hands, in a huge move of emotion and happiness. To keep pace with the music, colorful fireworks came from behind, giving the whole production a festive appearance. Everyone was deeply rewarded - including the tenors. But the best reward was yet to come - at least for ten children with several types of cancer.

On Friday, my friend Margarida and I sent a fax message to Carreras, at the hotel, informing him that ten children supported by the Casa Cavichio (a home for children under cancer treatment located nearby São Paulo) were coming to the Three Tenors' Concert. We asked him if he could meet the children and fulfill their dream of getting to know him. Of course he did! Since three p.m., the concert production team was looking after us to set all details, so that the children could be brought backstage as soon as the show was over. Margarida and I decided to give up the final medley to reunite the children and lead them through all the safety regulations and people - and be there on time! Both production assistants and safety people, including Carreras' personal safety team, were ready to help us. So many guardian angels!

Finally, we were brought into his dressing room. In a few seconds, there he was - happy, joking, greeting and kissing every child. My, they could not believe their dream had come true! He asked one young man who his favorite soccer player was. The boy answered "Denilson", and he frowned. Smilingly, he said he preferred Romário and Rivaldo, both former Barcelona players. And he also teased us about the coming game between the Brazilian and the Argentine soccer teams, eternal rivals.

After many hugs, kisses and photos ("Don't you want to take a picture of all of us?"), it was time to say goodbye. One little girl gave him a Casa Cavichio T-shirt. He thanked her. There were two more in store for Domingo and Pavarotti, that Carreras himself promised to deliver. And there were tears hidden in the eyes of his brother Alberto, when the children finally left. So, you can see, we had it all: a wonderful night with no cold and practically no rain, gorgeous music, singers almost all the time at their best - and the final special note of humanity, given, of course, by the human being named José Carreras.