Claiming illness, Pavarotti had canceled both performances. He was replaced for the first one by Francisco Casanova. Joseph Volpe, then the Met’s general manager, flew the Italian Mr. Licitra to New York on the Concorde as a substitute for the second night. The audience, though geared up for a major Pavarotti event, nevertheless greeted Mr. Licitra with applause, and his big, warmly Italianate sound and full-voiced high notes — reminiscent to some of Pavarotti’s own — earned him cheers after his arias and an extended standing ovation at the end.“He is a genuine find, an exciting tenor with a big, dark-hued and muscular voice,” Anthony Tommasini wrote in his review in The New York Times.

In the following Met seasons, Mr. Licitra sang in Verdi’s "Aida," “Forza del Destino” and “Un Ballo in Maschera,” Mascagni’s “Cavalleria Rusticana,” Leoncavallo’s “Pagliacci” and Puccini’s “Trittico” and “Turandot.” While retaining some of the raw power that was so impressive at his debut, Mr. Licitra was showing signs of increasing vocal strain in recent years. Reviewing a performance of “Turandot” at the Met in The Times last year, Mr. Tommasini found his voice “uneven, leathery and curiously cautious,” and worried about the fulfillment of his early promise.

His recording career had also tapered off recently. Highlights were a pair of solo albums of mostly Italian opera standards, the last released in 2006, and an album of duets with the Argentine tenor Marcelo Álvarez. In 2000 he sang on the soundtrack of “The Man Who Cried,” a film starring Christina Ricci, Johnny Depp and Cate Blanchett.