His comprehensive repertoire includes Handel's Samson and his recordings include West Side Story 1984 under Leonard Bernstein. His vocal presence, charmingly insinuating rather than forceful, is favoured for Italian and French romantic roles. In 1987 he became seriously ill with leukaemia, but resumed his career 1988. Together with Placido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti, he achieved worldwide fame in a recording of operatic hits released to coincide with the World Cup soccer series in Rome 1990.
