The Gayarre Amigos de la Ópera de Navarra Association has announced that bass-baritone Alfonso Echeverría died in Pamplona on May 19, 2021. He was 70.

Born in San Sebastián, Spain, Echeverría studied at the Real Conservatorio Superior de la Música. He graduated in law from the Complutense University of Madrid, but his inclination was always towards music and he would go on to perform with many of the great Spanish opera singers of the late 20th century including Monserrat Caballé, Alfredo Klaus, and José Carreras, among others.

Echeverría sang at the Vienna Opera, the Teatro Real, Liceu, Abao, Campoamor, Teatro de la Zarzuela, etc. and participated in more than 20 recordings including “Samson et Dalila,” “Alcina,” “Fedora,” “La Vida Breve,” and “Mendi Mendiyan.” He sang under the baton of conductors such as Karajan, Böhm, Stein, Fruhbeck de Burgos, and Bernstein.

In later years, he was the musical director of the Eugenia Echarren Singing School in Pamplona, ​​Spain.

However, 10 years ago he became seriously ill and had to undergo a liver transplant from which he made a successful recovery.