 After having won the National Competition for young opera singers in Spoleto, he made his debut in the same city in the role of Colline in "La Bohème" in the Festival dei Due Mondi.Subsequently, an opportunity arose for him at the Teatro dell'Opera in Rome when he was called upon to substitute in the role of Procida in Giuseppe Verdi's "I Vespri Siciliani", and he received enormous success from the public and the critics.The young singer was very shy and stiff at first, but his early directors helped him, and he was soon an accomplished opera actor.