part again in Verona to great acclaim. Prior to Il trovatore in Verona, he had performed in Un ballo in maschera at La Scala under Muti, then repeated the success in Rome in December. In November he made his American debut as a guest soloist at the 26th annual Richard Tucker Music Foundation Opera Gala in New York. In December he left for Vienna and the Wiener Staatsoper to sing in Tosca, then Manrico in Il trovatore at the Sao Carlos in Lisbon in January 2002 and Alvaro (Forza) in Turin in February. The Met and beyond The Metropolitan Opera followed unexpectedly on 11 May 2002 when he appeared in Tosca, substituting for Luciano Pavarotti, then 66, who had cancelled the performance two hours before curtain time. Licitra, who was not scheduled to debut there until 2004, was flown in by the Met as a back-up singer and eventually received a 43-second ovation at the conclusion of "Recondita armonia" and a 46-second ovation at the conclusion of "E lucevan le stelle". In the short time since his debut in 1998, Licitra was dubbed the New Pavarotti, a tenor "worthy of the great Italian tradition". The New York Times reported after his American debut with the Richard Tucker Gala: "... an Italian tenor with a deep baritonal lower range, a brighter upper register, and strong secure high notes [...] in true Italian tenor tradition [...] If he can withstand the inevitable "fourth tenor" hype, he could be one to watch". He subsequently added the title roles in Andrea Chénier, Ernani, Don Carlos, Turiddu in Cavalleria rusticana, Canio in Pagliacci, Dick in La fanciulla del West, and Luigi in Il tabarro, to his repertoire. Licitra's final public appearance was a concert performance of Puccini's Tosca with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the Ravinia Festival on 30 July 2011. James Conlon conducted, and the cast included Patricia Racette and Bryn Terfel. Death On 27 August 2011, Licitra sustained severe head and chest injuries when he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage while riding his motor scooter and crashed into a wall in Donnalucata, Scicli, Ragusa Province, Sicily. He remained in a coma for nine days in the Garibaldi Hospital in Catania and was pronounced dead on 5 September 2011. His body was taken to lie in repose in Catania's opera house, the Teatro Massimo Bellini. References External links Official website of Salvatore Licitra Salvatore Licitra