His international career began with his 1957
Covent Garden Riccardo in
Verdi's
Un ballo in maschera. He continued to appear at Covent Garden into the 1980s, putting his personal stamp on the roles of Énée in
Berlioz's
Les Troyens, Radamès in Verdi's
Aida and the title role in his
Don Carlos,
Handel's
Samson, Florestan in
Beethoven's
Fidelio, Tristan in
Wagner's
Tristan und Isolde, Canio in
Leoncavallo's
Pagliacci, and the title role in
Britten's
Peter Grimes. Some critics praised Vickers' Tristan as the best since
Lauritz Melchior's. On 20 November 1957, Vickers sang the title role in a performance of
The Dream of Gerontius by Sir
Edward Elgar in Rome conducted by Sir
John Barbirolli with the RAI Rome Symphony Orchestra and Chorus. Vickers gained major international recognition in both the U.S. and the UK in the role of
Giasone (
Jason) in performances of
Luigi Cherubini's
Medea with
Maria Callas in the title role at both
Dallas Civic Opera in November 1958 and the following season at
Royal Opera House,
Covent Garden in London, UK, in June, 1959. This was a joint co-production between Dallas and Covent Garden. Vickers and Callas both emphasized dramatic skills as well as singing ability, and they worked well together, Vickers stating that “...when we finished the big love duet, she flew across the stage and put her arms around me and said, 'At last, a tenor who can act!'” The same production was staged at
La Scala Opera House in
Milan, Italy in 1961-1962, again with Callas and Vickers heading the cast. The libretto by Hoffman was based on
Euripides' tragedy
Medea, on
Seneca the Younger's play
Medea and on
Pierre Corneille's play
Médée. He debuted at the
Bayreuth Festival in 1958 as
Siegmund in
Die Walküre and sang
Parsifal there in 1964, both presentations conducted by legendary Wagner conductor
Hans Knappertsbusch. He would appear at the
Metropolitan Opera in New York City, N.Y. over a period of 27 years in 280 performances of 17 roles, including Florestan in
Fidelio, Siegmund in
Wagner's
Die Walküre, Don Jose in
Bizet's
Carmen, Radamès in
Aida, Erik in Wagner's
Der fliegende Holländer, Herman in
Tchaikovsky's
Queen of Spades, Samson in both Handel's oratorio and
Saint-Saëns'
Samson et Dalila, the title role of
Verdi's
Otello, Don Alvaro in Verdi's
La forza del destino,
Peter Grimes,
Tristan und Isolde, Laca in
Janáček's
Jenůfa, Vasek in
Smetana's
The Bartered Bride, and the title role in Wagner's
Parsifal, giving his farewell in 1987. and that the opera itself was blasphemous in nature. He sang Nerone in Monteverdi's ''
L'incoronazione di Poppea at the Paris Opéra, and Alvaro in La forza del destino
at the Met (1975). His roles also included Don Carlos, Andrea Chenier, Herod in Salome. Vickers sang Pollione in Norma''. Ratan-Sen in
Roussel's Padmavati and Sergei in
Shostakovitch's
Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District. which he recorded twice: in 1960 with
Tullio Serafin and 1973 with Herbert von Karajan. Vickers also was a long time collaborator with American pianist
Richard Woitach. Vickers became one of Karajan's favourite singers at the lavish Salzburg Easter and Summer Festivals in
Der Ring des Nibelungen,
Carmen,
Otello,
Fidelio as well as
Tristan und Isolde. Vickers further sang at the 'home' of Italian opera, Milan's
La Scala, as well as in the major opera houses of
Chicago,
San Francisco,
Vienna, and at the
Salzburg Festival. He retired in 1988. ==Recordings==