Montserrat Caballé, now 79, suffered a stroke while in Russia and, while briefly losing consciousness, fell and broke an arm.

She was flown last Saturday to the Sant Pau hospital in Barcelona where she is “showing favourable progress, fully conscious and able to speak with her doctors and family members” says the Voice of Russia.

Consequently she has had to cancel upcoming engagements, including a performance scheduled for this evening at the Auditorium Girona in north-east Spain, where Caballé and her daughter were due to give a joint recital.