Dmitri Hvorostovsky - Russian Baritone Without Peer

Acclaimed as the baritone of his generation, Dmitri Hvorostovsky is renowned for his soulful singing, exceptional technique and remarkably mature interpretive powers. A vocal force to be reckoned with, the charismatic young Russian singer has impressed audiences worldwide with concerts, opera performances and recordings.

At 34 years of age, "Hvorostovsky is the definition of a soulful Russian singer, with dark, burnished tone, beefy top notes and a strong lower register." (FINANCIAL TIMES) He can seamlessly move from the searing lyricism of Rachmaninov to the abrasive edge necessary to convey the grim scenarios of Mussorgsky. "To convey the nuances of Mussorgsky's 'Songs and Dances of Death', you really need to be Russian. But that is what, in timbre, articulation, theatrical potency, and the ability to create the right sort of frisson, Dmitri Hvorostovsky undoubtedly is." (THE HERALD)

Taking the West by a Storm

It was in the summer of 1989, that Hvorostovsky came to the attention of the western music world by winning the BBC's Cardiff "Singer of the World" Competition on national television. The review in THE TIMES of his London Wigmore Hall début in 1989 said, "He came, he sang, he conquered." New York's critics were similarly awed. A review of his début in 1990 at the Alice Tully Hall, read, "The latest of red baritones ... produced some of the most beautiful and eloquent sounds that can currently be heard from any human throat ... Dmitri Hvorostovsky is already a singing star of the first magnitude."

Hvorostovsky has since risen to become one of the most sought-after vocalists in the world. He has given recitals in such renowned music centres as La Scala in Milan, Carnegie Hall in New York, Queen Elizabeth Hall and Wigmore Hall in London, the Berlin State Opera and Bastille Opera Paris.

Operatic Performances

Hvorostovsky made his Western operatic début in 1991 at the Nice Opera in "Piqué Dame" and his Italian début at La Fenice, Venice in "Eugene Onegin", a work he subsequently performed to rapturous audiences at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the Châtelet Théâtre in Paris and Monte Carlo. He sung "I Pagliacci" at La Scala and the Liceo in Barcelona, and made his US operatic début in 1993 in "La Traviata" as Père Germont at the Chicago Lyric Opera, a role that he has also sung at the Berlin Staatsoper.

Recent opera appearances have included "Piqué Dame" at The Metropolitan Opera, "Faust" at the Chicago Lyric Opera, "La Traviata" at the Vienna State Opera, Chicago Lyric Opera, Berlin State Opera and the Royal Opera Covent Garden, "La Favorita" at the Teatro Colon Buenos Aires, and "Le Nozze di Figaro" at the 1995 Salzburg Festival with Nikolaus Harnoncourt.

Orchestral Performances

Hvorostovsky's burgeoning list of orchestral engagements include performances of Mussorgsky's "Songs and Dances of Death" with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra in Edinburgh and Glasgow, and Verdi's "Don Carlos" at the BBC Promenade concerts with Bernard Haitink. He has also sung with the New York Philharmonic with Leonard Slatkin, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Orchestre National de France, the Rotterdam Philharmonic, and the Orchestra of the Deutsche Oper Berlin.

Recordings

Hvorostovsky records exclusively for Philips Classics. Operatic albums include "Eugene Onegin" with Semyon Bychkov, "La Traviata" with Kiri te Kanawa, Alfredo Kraus and Zubin Mehta, and "Cavalleria Rusticana" with Jessye Norman. He has also released two albums of Romances by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, Rimsky-Korsakov and Borodin, two albums of operatic arias by Tchaikovsky, Verdi, Rubinstein, Mussorgsky and Rimsky-Korsakov, and an album of Bel Canto arias by Rossini, Bellini and Donizetti. The 1992 album "Dark Eyes", featuring Russian folk songs with Folk Orchestra, was enormously successful on cross-over charts in Europe and the US. More recent releases include Tchaikovsky's "Iolanthe" with the Kirov Opera Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Valery Gergiev and a recital of Rachmaninov and Sviridov pieces. Future releases include Russian Liturgical Music with the St Petersburg Chamber Choir conducted by Nikolai Korniev and "Arie Antiche" with the Academy of St Martin-in-the Fields and Sir Neville Marriner.

Education and Training

Hvorostovsky was born in 1962 in the central Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk. After finishing his studies at the music school for children where he attended piano classes, he moved on to the Krasnoyarsk Pedagogical School and later the Krasnoyarsk School of Arts where he studied under Jekatherina Yofel. Upon graduating, he became a soloist with the Krasnoyarsk Opera. In 1987, he won First Prize at a national singing competition in the USSR and First Prize at the Toulouse Singing Competition in 1988.

(information, courtesy of Hong Kong Arts Festival)