Russian opera star Dmitri Hvorostovsky has died in London at the age of 55 following a lengthy illness, the singer’s agent in Russia said.
"Unfortunately, this is true," TASS cited her as saying.
“On behalf of the Hvorostovsky family, with heavy hearts we announce the passing of Dmitri Hvorostovsky – beloved operatic baritone, husband, father, son, and friend – at age 55,” the message said. After a two-and-a-half-year battle with brain cancer, he died peacefully this morning, November 22, surrounded by family near his home in London, UK. May the warmth of his voice and his spirit always be with us,” the statement added.
In late June 2015, the singer, who has lived in London for many years, announced that he was suffering from a brain tumor.
Born in Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk on October 16, 1962, Hvorostovsky graduated from the Krasnoyarsk Teacher’s Training School and the Krasnoyarsk Arts Institute and performed as a solo artist at the Krasnoyarsk State Theater of Opera and Ballet. In 1987, he won the First Prize at the Glinka Singers Competition and in 1988 - the Grand Prix at the International Singers Competition in Toulouse. In 1989, Khvorostovsky was victorious at the International Opera Singers Competition in Cardiff that brought him world fame.
After his opera debut in "The Queen of Spades" by Dmitry Tchaikovsky in Nice, Hvorostovsky was invited to perform at the world's best opera houses and participate in recognized opera festivals such as the Royal Theater of Covent Garden (London, UK), Metropolitan Opera (New York, USA), Paris Opera, Bavarian State Opera (Munich, Germany), La Scala (Milan, Italy), the Vienna State Opera and the Salzburg Festival.
Russia's producer Iosif Prigozhin, speaking with Vestnik Kavkaza, noted that Dmitri Hvorostovsky was great Russian opera singer. "He will go down in history as an outstanding opera singer. Unfortunately, no matter how you fight a disease, it spares no one, unfortunately, there are things that do not depend either on us or doctors. It's so sad when young people pass away. For us, for my family, the singer Valeria, for all citizens of Russia, he will remain forever the great Russian classic opera singer," he stressed.
