Nicoletta Mantovani sent a bumper box of delicacies from Pavarotti’s home city of Modena to Mario and Gill Kreft, the owners of the Pendine Park care organisation, in recognition of their support for the Froncysyllte Male Voice Choir.

The couple made the choir’s once-in-a-lifetime visit to Italy possible through the Pendine Arts and Community Trust (PACT) after Nicolette invited them to perform in a concert at the Teatro Comunale Pavarotti-Freni.

Inside the package were traditional Modena specialties including a panettone cake and prized Amarena cherries – a heartfelt gesture from the woman who has dedicated herself to preserving Pavarotti’s legacy since the tenor’s death in 2007

A producer and director, Nicoletta founded and became president of the Pavarotti Foundation which organises tribute concerts with opera stars such as Jose Carreras and Placido Domingo..

At the landmark concert, the choir performed songs in Italian, Welsh and French.

While there they presented traditional Welsh love spoons to Pavarotti’s daughter Alice and to the Mayor of Modena.

According to Mario, it was only fitting that Pendine should help celebrate the enduring link between North Wales and one of the world’s greatest voices.

Pavarotti will always be remembered as one of the finest and most cherished tenors of all time, and when interviewed he often told how his journey to greatness began at Llangollen International Musical Eisteddfod.

Pavarotti was just 19 and a trainee teacher when he first visited Llangollen Eisteddfod in 1955 with his father, Fernando, as part of Chorus Rossini, from Modena.

They secured the award for overall winning choir and following that achievement Pavarotti was determined to make music his career. He later said that winning at Llangollen was the spark that ignited his dream.

He returned 40 years later, this time as a global icon, for a sell-out concert in 1995.

Last year Nicoletta re-visited the international eisteddfod as a guest of honour to celebrate the 70th anniversary of her late husband’s first experience there.

She presented the prestigious Pavarotti Trophy to the winners of the Choir of the World Competition and was “deeply honoured” to present the coveted Pendine Trophy to the winner of the Pendine International Voice of the Future competition.

PACT sponsors the Pendine International Voice of the Future competition, which is one of the eisteddfod’s blue riband events, attracting entrants from all around the world.

They compete for a gleaming commemorative silver salver and a £3,000 cash prize to help advance their future singing careers.

“We were proud to support the Fron Choir in joining Chorus Rossini in Modena for what was a magical performance,” said Mario.

“Music and the arts are the golden thread running through everything we do, so this felt like a perfect way to honour that connection.

“As long-standing supporters and vice-presidents of the Llangollen Eisteddfod, Gill and I are especially proud of the enduring bond between North Wales and Luciano Pavarotti, whose extraordinary career was inspired by his success there as a young man.

“To have subsequently received the thank-you gift of confectionaries from Nicoletta was a wonderful surprise. It was totally unexpected and such a heart-warming gesture.

“Given how busy a life she leads, we feel deeply touched to think she has taken time out to arrange this lovely gift for us.

“We wanted to share the delicacies with some of our Pendine Park family and who better than the catering team who work so hard to deliver the highest standard of meals to our residents every day of the year.”

Pendine Park catering managers Mrs Chris Tracey and her husband, also called Chris, arranged for the cake to be sugar glazed and decorated with the juicy amarena cherries on top.

Pastry chef Dave Quinn, who decorated and made the first cut into the cake, said: “These are the finest, top quality ingredients. It’s been a pleasure to prepare such a wonderful treat.”