Before becoming an international opera star, Roberto Alagna honed his craft singing cabaret in Paris. He won first place in the prestigious Luciano Pavarotti Voice Competition in 1997 and made his professional stage debut in La Traviata the following year. As his reputation grew, so did his workload, eventually landing the young tenor in such notable venues as Covent Garden and the Metropolitan Opera. He has starred in film versions of Tosca and Romeo & Juliet and won numerous other awards, including the Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera and has been made a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et Lettres.