Spanish opera star Plácido Domingo is recovering after suffering a pulmonary embolism.

Spanish tenor-turned-baritone Plácido Domingo was admitted to hospital on Monday night in Madrid after suffering a pulmonary embolism, a blockage of the lungs’ main artery.

The singer has withdrawn from five performances of Daniel Catán’s opera Il Postino at the Teatro Real in Madrid, which were to begin on 17 July, and from a concert he was to conduct in Madrid’s Plaza Mayor square on July 21. Domingo is expected to make a full recovery, however doctors have suggested he rest and remain under medical supervision for the next few weeks.

Domingo’s representative, Nancy Seltzer, has said the singer is “responding very well to treatment, [but] his return to stage depends on his medical progress”.

A statement by the Teatro Real expressed “its enormous regret for the great Madrid tenor’s illness and to send him its best wishes for a quick recovery”.

The 72-year-old Grammy award-winner has enjoyed a remarkably long career encompassing a staggering 134 stage roles over six decades. Moving from Madrid to Mexico as a child, Domingo made his operatic debut in in 1961 at Monterrey as Alfredo in Verdi’s La Traviata. He is best known to popular music audiences for his...