Luciano Pavarotti to Make First Public Appearance Since Surgery

The 71-year-old tenor superstar isn't scheduled to sing, however. He'll be at the final concert of the Bergamo Music Festival in Italy on Wednesday (December 6) to accept the Donizetti Prize in honor of his contribution to the 20th-century revival of that composer's operas.

At the concert, according to the Associated Press, nine of Pavarotti's students will sing arias from Donizetti operas, including Don Pasquale, Lucrezia Borgia and Anna Bolena. The composer was born in Bergamo in 1797.

In July, while Pavarotti was in New York and preparing for London concerts on his worldwide farewell tour, doctors found a cancerous mass on the tenor's pancreas. The growth was immediately removed, and Pavarotti has been pursuing treatment and recovery ever since, first in New York and later at his home in Modena, Italy.

A spokesperson for the Teatro Donizetti in Bergamo, Raffaella Valsecchi, told the AP, "His health has improved, aside from some problems walking. He uses a small cane."

Earlier this year, Pavarotti cancelled a number of scheduled concerts on his farewell tour, reportedly due to back pain.

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