He sang Ferrando in Cosi fan tutte at the Drottninghom Court Theatre and Tamino in The Magic Flute for his debut at La Scala, Milan.
He also sang lyric roles such as Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia, the Duke in Rigoletto, Alfredo in La traviata, Nemorino in L'elisir d'amore and Lenski in Eugene Onegin.
Then in 1991 at Zurich he sang his first Lohengrin, and moved on to other heavier roles such as the Emperor in Die Frau ohne Schatten, Don Jose in Carmen and Florestan in Fidelio.
The following year he sang the title role of Mitridate, re di Ponto at the Schwetzingen Festival, and made his Metropolitan debut as Don Ottavio.
To honor his memory and opera work, The Gösta Winbergh Award (GWA) was instituted in Sweden after his death; the award is each year handed out to young aspiring tenors through an arranged singing contest that takes place at the opera stage Confidencen, at the Ulriksdal Royal Estate (a few miles outside Stockholm).