Spanish Baritone Antonio Blancas has died at the age of 82.

Blancas died at his home in Valencia on Jan. 14, 2022.

Born on March 13, 1939, in Madrid, his family moved to Montevideo, Uruguay where he started his studies under soprano Raquel Adonaylo.

In 1960 at the age of 21, he made his debut in the title role of “Don Giovanni” at the Teatro Solís in Uruguay.

Following his debut, in 1963 he met Ángeles Gulín, with whom he ended up getting married and the couple moved to Europe. In 1965, Blancas won the Munich singing competition which helped boost his career move forward.

He later won the Francisco Viñas de Barcelona competition and in 1971 made his Teatro de la Zarzuela de Madrid debut in “Madama Butterfly” alongside Raina Kabainbanska and Gianni Raimondi. He would go on to perform such roles as Scarpia, Escamillo, Giorgio Germont, Belcore, and Sharpless, among others.

Throughout his career, he made numerous recordings of Zarzuelas like “La Gran Vía,” “La del manojo de rosas,” “Pepita Jiménez,” and “La zapaterita” and performed alongside such important artists as Teresa Berganza, Jaume Aragall, Alfredo Krauss, among others.

In 1983, he became a professor at the Escuela Superior de Canto de Madrid and eventually became the director of the school.

He is survived by his daughter Ángeles Blancas who is a soprano and performs regularly throughout Europe and South America.