He was born in Castiglione dei Pepoli of Bologna, Italy, on 16/4/ 1942. He is famous for his interpretations in Verian operas. He studied under Giuseppe Marchesi (1959-68) and Ottaviano Bizzarri. A winner of the contest at Spoleto, he made his debut in 1967 in the role of Figaro [The Barber of Seville / Il barbiere di Siviglia]. In 1973, he won the "Gian Batista Viotti" contest at Vercelli. Following that, he performed in Venice (as Schaunard [La Bohème], 1975), at La Scala (as Figaro, 1977) and at the Royal Opera House in London (as Miller [Luisa Miller], 1978). In 1980, he made his first appearance at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, alongside Pavarotti, as Renato (A Masked Ball [Un ballo in maschera]. Subsequently he interpreted more roles at the Met: the title roles in Eugene Onegin and Rigoletto, Alfredo Germont [The Fallen Woman / La traviata], Amonasro [Aida], Marquis of Posa [Don Carlo]. In 1981, he appeared for the first time at the Paris Opera and, in 1989, he participated in the Salzburg Festival. He has performed in numerous cities around Italy and Germany, as well as in Reims, Monte Carlo, Zurich, Chicago, and Buenos Aires. His repertoire includes roles from the operas: Simon Boccanegra, Tosca, The Τroubadour [Il trovatore], Macbeth, The Two Foscari (I due Foscari), Falstaff, and Othello [Otello]. He has recorded more than thirty complete operas, alongside prominent artists and conductors, such as Karajan, Solti, Muti, Abbado, Maazel, Chailly (CBS, Decca). He collaborated with the GNO only once, interpreting the title role in Verdi's Nabucco (Olympia Theater, 2006/07).