Trivia

Opera singer (tenor).

His son, Marco, owns a restaurant in Busseto (Giuseppe Verdi's birthplace) called "Due Foscari", like a famous Verdi opera

In 1955, he made his US debut with the Lyric Theater of Chicago (now the Lyric Opera of Chicago) as Luigi in Puccini's "Il Tabarro." In 1956, he made his Met debut as Radames in "Aida".

He made his operatic debut in 1948 as a baritone, singing the title part in Rossini's "Barber of Seville" in southern Italy. After realizing that tenor parts were better suited for his voice, he made a second debut, as a tenor, in the title role in Umberto Giordano's "Andrea Chénier" in Bari in 1951.

As a youth, he sang in church. He attended the Parma Conservatory. During WWII, he spent three years in a German concentration camp for his anti-Nazi activities. He returned home after the war weighing less than 90 pounds.

He started out as a baritone. After becoming a tenor a few years later, he was careful not to push his voice. As a result, he largely escaped the vocal wear that can force singers to retire by their early 50s. He continued to sing beautifully into his late 60s.

He was considered the foremost Verdi tenor of his time. He sang more than 300 times with the Metropolitan Opera of New York from the 1950s to the 1980s.