DUBAI, 11 December 2002 — The Spanish opera singer Placido Domingo said yesterday he would perform a song in Arabic for the first time during a concert in Dubai tomorrow.

The 61-year-old tenor is expected to sing a duet in Arabic with Egyptian singer Ali Al-Hajjar in his first performance in the Gulf region.

Domingo arrived late Monday in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates to prepare for tomorrow’s show.

"I was surprised everybody knew I was going to sing in Arabic. I wanted this to be a surprise during the concert," he told a press conference in Dubai.

He said that "after 40 years of singing I’m always nervous. The responsibility is big. This is the first time you will have a concert of this kind. We have tried to make a program with a combination of different things."

During the concert, the Spanish singer will be accompanied by Chilean soprano Veronica Villarroel and the Baden-Baden philharmonic orchestra conducted by Eugen Kohn.

The concert will take place in the Aviation Club’s Dubai Tennis Stadium which can host up to 6,000 people. (DPA)