Born in Florence, Italy, he studied in Pesaro with Melocchi but was mostly self-taught. He began his operatic career in Pesero in 1940, as Turriddu in "Cavalleria rusticana". He then sang widely in Italy and made his debut at La Scala in Milan in 1943, as Rodolfo in "La bohème". After the war, he began to appear outside Italy, Barcelona, London, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, etc. He first sang at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in 1950, as des Grieux in "Manon Lescaut".