The great Verdi tenor passes on two weeks after his 90th birthday.

Carlo Bergonzi, one of the greatest Verdi tenors of all time, has died at the age of 90 after a remarkably long and successful career. At the height of his fame when Corelli and Di Stefano ruled the high Cs, Bergonzi outlasted, and to many ears, out-sung them all, finally hanging up his operatic hat in 1996. Reknowned for his intelligent, musical approach and natural, yet refined vocal style, his place in music history is assured.

Bergonzi was born the son of a Parmesan cheese-maker in Vidalenzo, near Parma in the Emilia-Romagna of Italy in 1924. He began his training at the age of 14 at the Parma Conservatory, and originally sang as a baritone. His studies were interrupted by World War II, during which he was held for a while in a German prisoner-of-war camp. He resumed his training and debuted as in 1948 as Figaro in The Barber of Seville. The next three years saw him singing roles like Malatesta, Belcore, Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor, Marcello and even Rigoletto.

During the latter part of that period, however, he retrained his voice and in 1951 he...