Between 1950 and 1970 he toured the world's biggest opera venues, delighting fans in Vienna, London's Covent Garden, Paris, Chicago, Mexico City, Rio de Janeiro and Johannesburg. He specialised in Italian composers, and was known for his roles in Verdi's Rigoletto and Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, while also mastering Wagner, Gounod and Bizet.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2008