Baritone Alejandro Meerapfel died on Friday, Sept. 22, 2023 during a performance in France.

Per reports, the Argentine artist had a heart attack during a performance at the Ambronay Festival. He was appearing in Antonio Draghi’s oratorio “Dono della Vita Eterna” alongside the Cappella Mediterranea ensemble and the Namur Chamber Choir under the musical direction of Leonardo García Alarcón.

Upon his collapse, emergency services quickly intervened and the audience members were evacuated.

In a press release, the festival noted that Meerapfel was a “man of kindness” whose “modesty and talent will remain in our hearts.”

Meerapfel was a fixture at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires where he appeared in operas by Puccini, Verdi, Mozart, Monteverdi, Poulenc, Strauss, Gluck, Ligeti, Zimmermann, and Enescu, among others.  He also performed as a soloist with such international companies the Konzerthaus Wien, Victoria Hall, the Grand Theater in Geneva, the Barcelona Auditorium, the Berlin Hebbel Theater, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, Theater des Champs Elysées, Caen Theater, Villete de Paris, and Khaai Theater in Brussels, among others.

Among Meerapfel’s other major career highlights were first prize at the International Singing Contest of Athens, second prize of the Angelica Catalani Competition, and a semifinalist position at the Francisco Viñas International Competition in Barcelona.

The baritone made recordings with French label K617 and Ambronay.