Pavarotti on the mend

Italian tenor legend Luciano Pavarotti insisted on Wednesday that he was "on the mend," countering confused reports about his battle against pancreatic cancer.

"You want to hear from me - whether I'm dead? I'm getting better, I'm on the mend," the 71-year-old was quoted as telling the online edition of Corriere della Sera newspaper.

The declaration followed an assertion to the yellowpress magazine Diva e Donna by his daughter Giuliana that "he knows he will die soon" - later staunchly denied.

Daughter misquoted
The magazine had totally misquoted her, Giuliana stated shortly afterwards. Her father was recovering well in his Modena home town and was even making trips to the seaside.

Pavarotti's health is the object of intense media coverage in Italy, where television pictures recently showed him in a wheelchair and looking thin, amid reports of a 30-kilo weight loss to his famous bulk.

The celebrated baker's son made his last major public appearance at the opening ceremony of last year's Turin Winter Olympics, singing the Nessun Dorma aria from Giacomo Puccini's opera Turandot.

Large frame
Many fans were moved to tears at the sight of their hero desperately supporting his large frame as the famous voice again took on the famous aria.

In London, Pavarotti's manager Terri Robinson meanwhile added her assurance about Pavarotti being on the road to recovery.

He was, she said, enjoying the summer with his wife Nicoletta - 30 years his junior - and their daughter Alice. She added hat he was "feeling better by the day" and "planning to record a new album." – (Sapa)

July 2007