A beloved Russian baritone's surprise return

New York

IT WAS a return to the stage that some feared would never happen again.

Last year, the beloved Russian baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky withdrew from staged opera - including a run of Eugene Onegin performances at the Metropolitan Opera - because of a brain tumour. When it opened without him, the soprano Anna Netrebko and the other members of the cast held white roses during their ovations in tribute.