MOSCOW, December 20 /TASS/. Russian opera star Dmitry Hvorostovsky has put off a concert in Yekaterinburg, the administrative center of Russia’s Urals region, from December 28 to early 2017 for health reasons, the singer’s manager told TASS.

Hvorostovsky’s concert in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, initially scheduled for December 22, will take place in February 2017 for the same reason.

"We had to put off the concerts scheduled for December until the start of 2017 because Dmitry is suffering from pneumonia," Hvorostovsky’s manager said. He also added that the singer was in the hands of good doctors and was feeling much better.

Earlier, a source close to the artist told TASS that Hvorostovsky had been taken to hospital in St. Petersburg with pneumonia but that his condition was normal now. The source said it was too early to say when the baritone could be discharged from hospital.

Opera career hiatus

On December 2, Dmitry Hvorostovsky’s manager confirmed that the singer had cancelled his debut in Giuseppe Verdi’s opera "Don Carlos" scheduled to be shown at Moscow’s Bolshoi Theatre on December 7 and 10 following his doctors’ recommendations, the artist’s website said. Later, Hvorostovsky issued a statement in which he said that he would not take part in opera productions for some time and hoped to focus on his health and treatment during the hiatus. He emphasized that the singer had no plans to interrupt his concert activities. His concerts in Moscow and St. Petersburg took place on December 14 and 18, according to schedule.

In the summer of 2015, Hvorostovsky was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Despite undergoing treatment, he continued performing. He went on a tour of North America and gave a concert at the VDNKH Green Theatre in Moscow on May 9 (Victory Day) where he sang Russian WWII songs. However, Hvorostovsky had to cancel his performance in Simon Boccanegra at the Vienna Opera.