He was born in Rome on 17/09/1934 (or 1938). He studied initially at the Conservatorio di Santa Cecilia and then at the Conservatorio di Ferrara, perfecting his technique under Piervenanzi. He made his debut at Faenza as Manrico in The troubadour [Il trovatore] and soon appeared in several of the most important opera houses in Italy. Riccardo Muti invited him to participate in the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. In 1971 he sang with great success in Dublin the role of Radames [Aida]. He followed an international career, appearing at major opera houses in Vienna, Berlin, London, Barcelona, Lisbon, Buenos Aires, Brussels, New York and San Francisco. In 1978 tenor Giacomo Lauri-Volpi invited him to perform in the first ever production of Manon Lescaut in Valencia. In the years 1997-2000 he gave concerts in Carnegie Hall, the Cervantino International Festival in Mexico City, the Seoul Cultural Center, The Morlacchi Theatre in Perugia, etc. His repertoire included a total of more than forty leading tenor roles such as the title role in Otello and Ernani, Mario Cavaradossi [Tosca], Turiddu in Rustic Chivalry [Cavalleria rusticana], Canio [Pagliacci], Pollione [Norma], Renato Des Grieux [Manon] and Gabriele Adorno [Simon Boccanegra]. He took part in recordings of The Cloak [Il tabarro] (as Luigi), Andrea Chénier (in the title role) and Tosca (as Mario Cavaradossi), and released two solo albums (Renato Francesconi-Canta Verdi and Renato Francesconi-One Night Only). In 1997 he was awarded the Cavaliere di Malta for his artistic achievement, and was declared a Doctor of the Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma in 1998.