If you haven't heard of this Russian baritone, you need to fix that. I first heard him when I was 15-years-old and dating. Eugene Onegin was the first opera that wasn't Carmen that I heard front to back. It was broadcast over the radio, however, so I didn't quite grasp who this singer was at first.
Now it has been four years since I first heard Dmitri Hvorostovsky(*) sing. When I realized just who the heck he was, that's when I really began to enjoy him.
Dmitri Hvorostovsky is unmistakable; his hair is prematurely white (started of black apparently, then began graying when he was in his twenties), and he has a buff physique. His voice has a very rich, very velvety tone, which makes him perfect for roles like Onegin (Eugene Onegin), the Count di Luna (Il Trovatore), and Prince Yeletsky (The Queen of Spades). Since 2007 (when I first heard him), I have heard him sing in War and Peace (at least I think it was that), Il Trovatore, Simon Boccanegra, and have seen various videos of him in all sorts of operas. I have also heard him sing Russian folk songs and romances.
There is a website dedicated to this singer. He will be performing in the Metropolitan Opera HD simulcasts next season, singing in both Ernani, and La Traviata. Dmitri Hvorostovsky is one of the best singers in the world. Actually (and here I'm going to steal part of a line from Kung Fu Panda), if his voice were a weapon, his enemies would go deaf from over-exposure to pure awesomeness. Check it out.
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(*)Pronounced VOH-roh-STOHV-skee
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