Well-known Chinese tenor Shi Hong'e died of heart failure in Shanghai at the age of 73 on Tuesday, announced Shanghai Opera House.

A native of Shanghai, Shi was enrolled in the vocal music department of Shanghai Observatory of Music at the age of 16 and went to Bulgaria to pursue advanced studies in vocal music in 1956.

He won the top award in a classic vocal music contest during the eighth World Youth Festival held in Finland in 1962, thus attracting the attention of the international opera community.

Shi, who served as president of Shanghai Opera House from December 1962 to September 1998, played lead roles in the Chinese renditions of a host of opera classics including La Boheme, Carmen, Madama Butterfly, the Lady of the Camellias, and Turandot.

He is survived by his wife, Zhu Fengbo, a soprano, and a son.

The funeral is scheduled for Sunday.

(Xinhua News Agency March 14, 2008)