Spanish opera star Jose Carreras ends career with Kutaisi show

Opera enthusiasts and classical music lovers are invited to a free concert by Spanish tenor Jose Carreras in Georgia’s second largest city Kutaisi.

Eagerly awaited by locals and guests, the June 18 performance will see Carreras sing for the crowds within the Georgian Government's cultural project Check in Georgia.

The initiative brings under its umbrella more than a dozen festivals, concerts and cultural occasions across Georgia throughout this year.

Georgia’s Minister of Culture and Monument Protection Mikheil Giorgadze told reporters the concert would be free, making it accessible to all members of the community.

See Jose Carreras perform at Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Italy during the 2015 Harmony Art Festival below:

Giorgadze said the "entire Imereti region" was preparing to see the famous singer in the city.

The Spanish singer will perform in Kutaisi as part of his world tour that brings an end to his 45-year singing career.

The concert at Kutaisi's Central Square will also feature the Tbilisi Symphony Orchestra and Georgian soprano Salome Jikia, who will partner Carreras.

Carreras’ performance will be the last of four headlining acts of Check in Georgia, which launched on April 25 with a performance of Italian pop star Eros Ramazzotti in capital Tbilisi.

The show was followed by the May 27 concert of British singer Robbie Williams at the Dinamo Arena stadium before locals and visitors of the seaside city Batumi enjoyed an appearance of American pop rock band Maroon 5 on June 7.

Born in 1946, Carreras launched his singing career in 1970 by partnering celebrated soprano Montserrat Caballe in the opera Lucrezia Borgia.

Carreras was diagnosed with acute leukaemia in 1987 but overcame the disease and made his "second debut" in front of an audience of 150,000 in Barcelona, Spain.

The singer has also performed in famous worldwide appearances alongside late Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti and fellow Spaniard Placido Domingo.