Dmitri Hvorostovsky  Silver
Dmitri Hvorostovsky
Early on   Mr. Hvorostovsky (pronounced voh-roh-STOV-ski)  excelled as Valentin in Gounodâs âFaust â Belcore in Donizettiâs âLâElisir dâAmoreâ and the title role of Mozartâs âDon Giovanni â which  he  played with captivating suavity.  He  brought musical and linguistic authority to Russian opera  especially the title part of Tchaikovskyâs âEugene Onegin â in which  he  was peerless.
As  his  career developed   he  was increasingly sought after for  his  dramatically layered interpretations of Verdi baritone roles  among them Germont in âLa Traviata.â  He  had a close association with the Metropolitan Opera  where  he  sang some 180 performances of 13 roles there over a career that began in 1995.
 He  had been scheduled to appear at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in the fall of 2015  but that summer  he  revealed on  his  website that  he  had a brain tumor. An announcement said  âAlthough  his  voice and vocal condition are normal   his  sense of balance has been severely affected.â
 He  canceled  his  summer appearances to undergo treatment in London   his  main home since the 1990s  and it seemed doubtful that  he  would be able to fulfill  his  commitment to the Met  which had scheduled  him  to sing six performances in October in a revival of its 2009 production of Verdiâs âIl Trovatore â with Mr. Hvorostovsky in the lead role of Count di Luna.
But  he  managed to appear for three of the dates during a break in  his  treatment  and the reception at the Metropolitan Opera House was emotional.
On the opening night of the run  the audience erupted in an ovation when  he  first appeared onstage as the count (in this production  the brash leader of Royalist troops during a time of civil war in Spain). Briefly breaking character   he  smiled and placed  his  hand over  his  heart in gratitude.
Early on   Mr. Hvorostovsky (pronounced voh-roh-STOV-ski)  excelled as Valentin in Gounodâs âFaust â Belcore in Donizettiâs âLâElisir dâAmoreâ and the title role of Mozartâs âDon Giovanni â which  he  played with captivating suavity.  He  brought musical and linguistic authority to Russian opera  especially the title part of Tchaikovskyâs âEugene Onegin â in which  he  was peerless.
As  his  career developed   he  was increasingly sought after for  his  dramatically layered interpretations of Verdi baritone roles  among them Germont in âLa Traviata.â  He  had a close association with the Metropolitan Opera  where  he  sang some 180 performances of 13 roles there over a career that began in 1995.
 He  had been scheduled to appear at the Metropolitan Opera in New York in the fall of 2015  but that summer  he  revealed on  his  website that  he  had a brain tumor. An announcement said  âAlthough  his  voice and vocal condition are normal   his  sense of balance has been severely affected.â
 He  canceled  his  summer appearances to undergo treatment in London   his  main home since the 1990s  and it seemed doubtful that  he  would be able to fulfill  his  commitment to the Met  which had scheduled  him  to sing six performances in October in a revival of its 2009 production of Verdiâs âIl Trovatore â with Mr. Hvorostovsky in the lead role of Count di Luna.
But  he  managed to appear for three of the dates during a break in  his  treatment  and the reception at the Metropolitan Opera House was emotional.
On the opening night of the run  the audience erupted in an ovation when  he  first appeared onstage as the count (in this production  the brash leader of Royalist troops during a time of civil war in Spain). Briefly breaking character   he  smiled and placed  his  hand over  his  heart in gratitude.