Aged only 43 Salvatore Licitra, one of the world’s leading tenors, has died after being seriously injured in a severe traffic accident. The crash occurred in Sicily, while driving a motorbike without a helmet. Licitra was brought to Garibaldi di Catania hospital where he had surgery, where he entered a coma from which he never recovered. His girlfriend, with whom he was travelling, was unharmed, escaping with only a few light bruises.

Born in Switzerland to Italian parents, Licitra specialised in the Italian repertoire. He was an enthusiastic ambassador for the Ducati motorbike, and dedicated a section on his website to it. Maintaining his love of bikes from a very early age, he has compared the sound of the bike to 'a beautiful Do di petto' (a high C from the chest). He stated that 'Ducati is, like opera music, the display of Italian excellency and it makes me proud to praise these virtues during my tour of engagements.'

The 43-year-old tenor made his debut in 1998 in Un ballo in maschera at the Teatro Regio. This was followed by his international breakthrough in 2002 as he stepped in at the last minute for Luciano Pavarotti at the Metropolitan Opera in Tosca.

His admirers claimed for him Pavarotti's mantle as the leading Italian tenor of the day. If he never quite lived up to that hype, he did share with the older tenor a peculiarly Italianate, open and (at the top) silvery sound, though Licitra's voice was heftier and more baritonal through most of its range. He left several recordings, among them a complete Tosca and Il Trovatore, both from La Scala, and DVDs including an Aida from 2007. In an age where his kind of voice no longer seems to grow on trees, Licitra's talent will be especially missed, not least since his untimely death comes so soon after that of his countryman and fellow tenor, Vincenzo La Scola.

This has been amended from an earlier article.