I was so heartbroken to hear about the death of Siberian baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky. He was only 55, and had been up front about his brain tumor. I feel so lucky to have heard him the handful of times I did at the Met, always in Verdi, his favorite composer. I'd never heard such luscious, rich, Italianate singing. He was a real treasure and the opera world won't be the same without him.

I'll share a video of the first I heard of him, from a Met broadcast of Tchaikovsky's *The Queen of Spades.* He played the prince, and dear Lord, what a gorgeous voice.