Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti, regarded by many as the greatest of his generation, hopes to return to the stage early next year after undergoing surgery for pancreatic cancer, he said in an interview.
The singer, 70, was been forced to postpone his farewell opera tour after being diagnosed with cancer.
“I definitely intend to go back to singing. I want to finish my tour. I cannot indicate precise dates because I’ll have to consult with the doctors, but I think that I’ll resume it at the beginning of next year,” he told Italian newspaper La Stampa yesterday (July 24).
Pavarotti, who was speaking by telephone from his house in New York, was operated on earlier this month in a U.S. hospital. The illness was the latest setback for the tenor, who had been forced to cancel several dates of his marathon farewell tour this year due to ailments including back complications.
In the interview he said he was feeling much better and appeared to be in good spirits. The interviewer said his voice sounded cheerful. “I have had everything in life, really everything. And if everything is taken away from me, with God we’re even and quits,” he said.
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