(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-08-10 17:36

Italian opera star Luciano Pavarotti wears a Chinese opera headdress presented to him after a news conference in Beijing in this December 7, 2005 file photo. [Reuters]

Rome - Luciano Pavarotti, who was hospitalized this week with a fever, was "doing better" Friday, his wife told reporters at the hospital where he was undergoing tests.

The opera superstar, who underwent surgery for pancreatic cancer last year, has been hospitalized with a fever in his hometown of Modena since Wednesday. The 71-year-old was being kept under observation and his condition was described in a medical bulletin Thursday as "satisfactory."

"He is doing better," Pavarotti's wife, Nicoletta Mantovani, told reporters at the hospital, according to the ANSA news agency.

Mantovani confirmed that the tenor was expected to be released "in the coming days, certainly."

The hospital said it did not expect to issue any updates on Pavarotti's condition Friday.

Newspapers have reported that Pavarotti had caught pneumonia, but the tenor's manager, Terri Robson, declined to comment on the report in a phone interview and a subsequent e-mail exchange with The Associated Press.

Robson said that Pavarotti came down with a fever while vacationing at his holiday home in Pesaro, a seaside resort on the Adriatic some 200 kilometers (125 miles) southeast of Modena, and his doctor decided to admit him to the hospital for tests.

Pavarotti underwent surgery for pancreatic cancer in July 2006 in a New York hospital. Pancreatic cancer is one of the most dangerous forms of the disease, though doctors said the surgery offered improved hopes for survival.

At the time of the operation, Pavarotti had been preparing to resume his farewell tour. He has made no public appearances since then. Robson has said he has been busy teaching and working on a recording of sacred music.