All news

Reports of Russian opera star Hvorostovsky’s death 'totally untrue' — agent

"He is alive and at home," his London agent Mark Hildrew told TASS
Dmitri Hvorostovsky  Vyacheslav Prokofyev/TASS
Dmitri Hvorostovsky
© Vyacheslav Prokofyev/TASS

LONDON, October 11. /TASS/. Media reports about the alleged death of internationally acclaimed Russian baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky are "totally untrue," his London agent Mark Hildrew told TASS on Wednesday.

"This is totally untrue. He is alive and at home," he said, when asked to comment on the reports.

Commenting on the false reports, Hildrew said: "We will look at a legal case for sure."

Early on Wednesday, a number of Russian media outlets disseminated reports of the singer’s alleged death, without sourcing this information to anyone.

Later, the information was officially refuted on Hvorostovsky’s official Facebook page.

"Contrary to several erroneous reports in the Russian media, Dmitri is alive and resting at home," the statement reads. "He looks forward to his parents' visit to London this weekend and celebrating his birthday with them."

Hvorostovsky turns 55 on October 16.

In the summer of 2015, Hvorostovsky was diagnosed with a brain tumor. In late September 2016, the singer had to cancel his performance on the Vienna State Opera stage in Giuseppe Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra. In December, the Bolshoi Theatre officially canceled Hvorostovsky’s debut in Verdi’s Don Carlos. In late June it was reported that the singer would not take part in the new 2017/2018 season of the Vienna State Opera for health reasons.

That said, the famous baritone successfully performed in late April on the Toronto stage and also gave a surprise to the Metropolitan Opera guests due to the theater’s 50th anniversary. On May 27, Hvorostovsky performed at the City Day celebration in St. Petersburg and on June 2, in Krasnoyarsk, his hometown.