as well as the B minor mass by Bach and a Swedish song recital accompanied by Bendix. In 1953, he made his début at La Scala as Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, followed by one of the tenor soloists in the premiere of Orff's Trionfo di Afrodite. In January the following year he made his debut at the Paris Opera as Damon in Les Indes galantes, with Huon in Weber's Oberon and Tamino in The Magic Flute in the same year, Alfredo in La traviata and the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto in 1956, Cassio in Otello in 1957 and the title role in Faust in 1961. He was based in France at this time, and began an association with the Aix-en-Provence Festival in 1954, starting with Belmonte in Die Entführung aus dem Serail and Vincent in Mireille, then Orphée in Orphée et Eurydice, Thespis and Mercure in Platée, and Ferrando in Così fan tutte; several productions being recorded. Diapason magazine described him as the greatest French tenor of his generation, both for his essential casting in Faust and The Tales of Hoffmann, but also for his role in the re-emergence of interest in French grand opera, which owed much to his ability to match the requirements of roles such as Arnold in Guillaume Tell, the Cellini and Enée of Berlioz, as well as the title role of Meyerbeer's Le prophète. In 1966, prior to assuming the role at Covent Garden, Gedda said that Cellini was one of his favourite parts; when he prepared the role for the Holland Festival production in 1961 he became totally absorbed in the historical figure of the 16th-century Italian goldsmith and sculptor. In Salzburg, he took part in the August 1957 premiere of the three-act version of Rolf Liebermann's Die Schule der Frauen (as Oronte), conducted by Georg Solti, where Gedda "matched his free lyric tenor with an animation of personality that came as a surprise". After his U.S debut as Faust in Pittsburgh in 1957, Gedda made his Metropolitan Opera debut in the title role of Gounod's Faust the same year, and went on to sing 28 roles there over the next 26 years, including Anatol in the world premiere of Barber's Vanessa and the U.S. premiere of Menotti's The Last Savage. He was the last singer to stand on the stage of the 'old Met': the final curtain of the gala evening