70 year old tenor Luciano Pavarotti underwent surgery for pancreatic cancer and is "recovering well" said his manager in a report today. He remains in a New York hospital not yet named. The mass was completely removed but all remaining 2006 concerts have been canceled as he starts treatments. Tour plans will resume in early 2007.

Pavarotti retired from opera two years ago, saying his weight problem and bad knee prevented him from moving comfortably around stages. But he kept up with his concert career. He first reached stardom in the U.S. in 1965 opposite Joan Sutherland in Donizetti's "Lucia di Lammermoor". He has performed over 350 times at the world famous Met along with hundreds of performances at Milan's Teatro all La Scala, London's Royal Opera, the Lyric Opera of Chicago and the San Francisco Opera, and at the Opera de Paris and 45 at the Vienna State Opera. Pavrotti was also part of The Three Tenors joining Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras. The trio sang together for thirteen years.