Promoters of a forthcoming concert by Luciano Pavarotti have insisted it will be the first and last time the tenor performs in Dubai.
Organisers also said the singer's voice was as good as ever even though he will turn 70 this year.
Pavarotti, probably the world's most famous classical singer, will perform at Madinat Arena in Madinat Jumeirah on April 7.
Tiered seating is being installed in the arena after those who attended a recent ballet performance complained their view of the stage was poor.
The Dubai show is the only Middle East stop on Pavarotti's farewell tour. The Italian singer has said he will retire and teach up-and-coming opera singers when it wraps up.
Padma Coram from concert promoters The Talent Brokers said the upbeat reaction to recent Pavarotti live dates proved the 69-year-old tenor was not a spent force.
"He's just done sellout shows in Mexico and Venezuela in the past three weeks to rave reviews. The response was tremendous," she said.
"Recently, we had a lady singer who was 72 and was performing and her voice was probably better than it was before. I don't think age comes into it."
Coram said more than half of the 3,000 tickets on offer had sold and said she was confident the event would be a sellout.
Coram said the Dubai arena was one of the smallest Pavarotti was visiting during his farewell tour, with most of the others seating more than 16,000 people. "If we cannot fill this, it will be an embarrassment to Dubai," she said.
A piano and a piano tuner are being brought from Germany for the show.
Pavarotti will arrive in Dubai by private jet from South Africa. After performing, he will head for Kiev in Ukraine.
He will be accompanied on stage by Italian soprano Simona Todaro.
