OPERA STAR RECOVERING AFTER ATTACK

Italian opera star GIUSEPPE DI STEFANO has been brutally attacked by vicious robbers, who left him with serious head injuries.

The 83-year-old tenor and his wife were assaulted in their car as they left their villa in Kenya, 440 kilometres (273 miles) from capital city Nairobi.

After Wednesday's (01DEC04) attack, Di Stefano fell unconscious and was rushed to the intensive care unit of a nearby hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery for his head wounds.

However, the singer has now been taken off sedatives and specialists are hopeful he'll make a full recovery.

TOMMASO CASTELLANO, Italy's honorary consul, says Di Stefano sustained his injuries while trying to defend his wife from the muggers, who were trying to steal her necklace.

Castellano says, "The doctors are hopeful that the first and second operations went well. But since the patient has been unconscious doctors have no way of checking yet whether the situation has improved, and by how much it might have improved."

Di Stefano hasn't performed since 1992, but was famously hailed "the maestro" by opera superstar LUCIANO PAVAROTTI.