Luciano Pavarotti has gone straight to the top of the classical artist album charts six years after he died, with a remastered version of the first recording he ever made.

The posthumous release features an aria recorded by the opera singer 50 years ago but which lay unheard in his personal archives for five decades before it was unearthed by his widow, Nicoletta Mantovani.

It appears on an album, Pavarotti - The 50 Greatest Tracks, which also features Nessun Dorma, which was made famous by its use in the coverage of the 1990 World Cup in Italy, and a string of duets with stars including Frank Sinatra, Bono and Eric Clapton.

British audiences first saw the singer, who died of cancer in 2007, when he appeared on Sunday Night at the London Palladium with Bruce Forsyth in 1963.

Pavarotti went on to enjoy worldwide acclaim with his performances as part of the Three Tenors, becoming one of the most successful opera singers of all time.

The first recording of his voice was an aria from Puccini's La Boheme called Che Gelida Manina, which translates as: Your Tiny Hand Is Frozen.