He was born in Venice on 22/2/1939 where he studied at the opera school of the Teatro La Fenice; he also studied under Marcello and Mario Del Monaco. In 1958 he won first prize in a song contest in Palermo, and in 1962 won first prize at the Teatro La Fenice song contest where he made his professional debut as Schaunard in La bohème. Soon afterwards he performanced at the Arena di Verona and Teatro dell’Opera di Roma, while he also sang in the Caracalla Festival and Maggio Musical Fiorentino. He made his USA debut in 1972 as Tonio in Pagliacci at the Dallas Opera, and also toured the USA (1976) and Japan (1981) as a member of La Scala. His made his Royal Opera House (London) debut in 1977, Chigago Lyric Opera in 1978, MET in 1983 and Opéra National de Paris in 1984. He sang under the baton of distinguished conductors in the USA as well as in London, Amsterdam, Madrid, Barcelona, Tokyo, Hamburg, Munich, Berlin, Bonn, Frankfurt, Vienna, Brussels, Moscow, Luxor (Egypt), Geneva and Zurich. He was renowned for his performances of Verdi roles: Il conte di Luna (Il trovatore), Renato (Un ballo in maschera), the title role of Nabucco, Ezio (Attila), Amonasro (Aida), Jago (Otello) and Guido de Montfort (I Vespri Siciliani). His repertoire also included operas by Mozart, Rossini, Donizetti, Mascagni, Bizet and Wagner. He performed at the GNO in the 1998/99 season as Scarpia (Tosca) and in the 1999/00 season as Mikele (Il tabarro). // Last update of the biography: March 2020 - The list of the productions below is continually updated.