Pavarotti Delays Public Return

The Italian media speculated that Luciano Pavarotti canceled a December 6th appearance because of continuing ill health, but his representative said the world famous singer is pleased with the way he’s recovering from a cancer operation.

The corpulent 71-year-old opera superstar was due to be presented with an award named after Gaetano Donizetti, the 19th century composer born in the northern Italian city of Bergamo, although he wasn’t expected to perform.

It would have been his first public appearance since he underwent an operation to remove pancreatic cancer in July.

Pavarotti, regarded by many as the greatest tenor of his generation, canceled all remaining tour dates for 2006 when the illness was first diagnosed.

He’s expected to return to recording and touring in 2007.

— John Gammon