(Credit: Martyno Aleksos)

Famed Lithuanian bass Vaclovas Daunoras has died on Oct. 19, 2020, at the age of 84.

He had studied at the Lietuvos muzikos ir teatro akademija from 1957 to 1962 and made his professional debut in 1960 in the role of Escamillo in Bizet’s “Carmen.”

Daunoras worked with such organizations as the Lithuanian Opera and Ballet Theater, the Lithuanian Philharmonic, and the Kaunas Musical Theater. Between 1966 and 1968 he did an internship at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, where he appeared in the role of Count Monterone in Verdi’s “Rigoletto” with Luciano Pavarotti singing the role of Duca di Mantua.

He moved to the United States in 1994 and lived there until 2017. Daunovas made his Metropolitan Opera House debut in 1996 and appeared in productions of “La Traviata,” “Tosca,” “Manon,” and “Turandot,” among others. He retired from the Met stage in 2005.

In his later years, he would turn to teaching.