Invited by the major opera houses as an expert in French operatic repertoire, he performed at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Bayerische Staatsoper, the Dresden Semperoper, Palau de les Arts in Valencia, the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence, the Washington National Opera, often collaborating with Placido Domingo. He received the Grand Prix du Disque for his recording of French opera arias with Natalie Dessay and the Philharmonic Orchestra of Monte Carlo. During his tenure as Music Director of the Orchestra Sinfonica Arturo Toscanini in Parma, he linked his name to the Verdi celebrations in 2001.

Future plans: lyric and symphonic concerts in Beijing, Warsaw and at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples; Carmen and Les Pécheurs des Perles at the Opernhaus Zurich; Suor Angelica at the Seattle Opera; and Les Contes d'Hoffmann at the San Francisco Opera.