'My voice is back', sings tenor Villazon

Mexican star tenor Rolando Villazon, who cancelled all his 2009 engagements after a cyst was found on his vocal cords, said his voice "is back" and he will return to the stage next year.

"My voice is back. I am very happy to inform all of you that I am currently singing and I am just polishing little details to be able to come back as soon as possible next year to the stage and to sing for you," the 37-year-old singer announced in a video message posted on his website.

Villazon, who shot to super-stardom alongside Russian soprano Anna Netrebko in Verdi's "La Traviata" in Salzburg in 2005, already had to take an extended break from the concert platform and opera stage in 2007 due to vocal problems.

This year, he announced in April that he was cancelling all his 2009 performances, and underwent vocal surgery, with some observers suggesting his career might be over for good.

In 2010, the bubbly tenor had been scheduled to sing the title role in Mozart's "Idomeneo" in Paris, team up with Netrebko and Latvian mezzo Elina Garanca for Bizet's "Carmen" at the Vienna State Opera and sing the role of Des Grieux in Massenet's "Manon" in a new production in London.

Of those three roles, he will definitely not be performing in "Carmen".

But it remained to be seen which role he would choose for his comeback.

"I wanted to make some important decisions about my career, about repertoire and about some productions," Villazon said.

"And this is only due to the fact that I want to come back in the best situation possible.

"Very soon, I will be posting my calendar for 2010 and that will be the definitive dates I will be singing for you. I am very, very excited," he said, signing off by singing "Ciao" on a top A.