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Known for captivating song recitals, lyrical performances of Verdi baritone roles, and, not least of all, his striking silver hair, Dmitri Hvorostovsky enjoyed an A-list career beginning in the early 1990s. His brilliant, yet deceptively dark-hued voice was the embodiment of chiaroscuro, and the combination of vocal polish and emotion that he brought to his performances made him an audience favorite.

Having grown up, studied, and debuted (as Marullo in Rigoletto) in his hometown of Krasnoyarsk, he took top honors at the 1987 Glinka National Competition, the 1988 Toulouse Singing Competition, and then the 1989 Cardiff Singer of the World competition. The last of these, in which he edged out both the meteoric Bryn Terfel and Monica Groop for the win, launched him into the spotlight and led to his western operatic debut, as Yeletsky in Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades in Nice. The next several years brought debut recitals in London and New York, his Italian debut as Eugene Onegin at the famous La Fenice, and engagements at Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera, the Chicago Lyric Opera, and the Berlin State Opera. His first solo recording contract, with Philips, began in the early 1990s, as well; the artistic and commercial success of his first several CDs, and the explosion of his operatic and concert schedule around the world, sent his career into high gear.

Although he was closely identified with the roles of Eugene Onegin and Yeletsky (The Queen of Spades), Hvorostovsky's operatic repertory was centered on Italian works more so than Russian; in the early 2000s, he began to explore new Russian territory, like Prokofiev's War and Peace, but in general he felt Russian roles called for a gruffer, less lyrical voice than his. He is known best for his performances as the elder Germont in La Traviata, Posa in Don Carlos, Don Giovanni, and Rossini's Figaro. However, as a recitalist, Hvorostovsky was always intensely focused on Russian song, making moody, dramatic works of Rachmaninov, Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Glinka, and Mussorgsky the centerpieces of his performances. With his longtime collaborator Mikhail Arkadiev at the piano, Hvorostovsky established himself as one of the finest singers of that repertory anywhere in the world. The special nature of that collaboration was honored by Russian composer Georgy Sviridov in 1995, when he dedicated his vocal poem Petersburg to Hvorostovsky and Arkadiev; the two remained champions of his music. In the early 21st century, Hvorostovsky devoted himself more and more to Verdi roles. Hvorostovsky died from brain cancer at the age of 55.

Evgeny Akimov (alternate spellings: Yevgeny, Jevgenij, etc.) is a leading tenor in the company of the Kirov Opera at the Mariinsky Theater in his native St. Petersburg. He was trained at the famous Conservatory (named after Rimsky-Korsakov) in that city and made a name for himself by winning several important vocal awards and competitions. In 1996, he was engaged as a soloist in the company of the Kirov Opera. He has visited foreign countries several times. He went to Germany as part of the Moscow Children's Opera Theater. As a part of the St. Petersburg Vocal Sextet he has toured Germany, Italy, and Japan, and as a member of the Kirov has sung in their touring productions in Spain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Finland, and in the United States on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera House in New York. On his home stage, he sings the international tenor repertory, including such roles as the Duke in Verdi's Rigoletto, Cassio in Otello, and Count Almaviva in Rossini's Barber of Seville. He is better known, internationally, for his portrayals of both character and leading tenor roles in Russian operas, including Antonio in Prokofiev's Betrothal in a Monastery (The Duenna), Prince Vladimir in Borodin's Prince Igor, the Fool (Yurodivy) in Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov, Bayan in Glinka's Ruslan and Ludmila, Prokofiev's Semyon Kotko, in Rimsky-Korsakov's The Tsar's Bride, and the Prince of Clubs in Prokofiev's Love for Three Oranges. His CD releases include Boris, Betrothal, Oranges, Kotko, and Tsar's Bride, and he appears on video in Kirov productions of Prince Igor and Betrothal.

Olga Borodina is one of the leading Russian operatic mezzo-sopranos. A star of the Kirov (Mariinsky) Opera, she is also in strong demand internationally.

Her first major position was as a member of the Kirov Company in Leningrad, which contracted her as an ensemble soloist in 1987. (As the city returned to its pre-Revolutionary name of St. Petersburg, the opera theater also re-took its earlier name of Mariinsky, but remains well-known under the long-standing Kirov name.)

She worked her way through the smaller mezzo-soprano parts until music director Valery Gergiev unexpectedly assigned her to the leading role of Marfa in Mussorgsky's Khovanshchina. The great acclaim she received for her performance established her as a leading singer with the company and drew international attention. She entered the Rosa Ponselle International Competition. She won the gold medal there, a victory that launched her international career. This was followed by winning another major prize from the 1989 Barcelona Competition, confirming her growing international status.

Her repertory is naturally strong in the major Russian mezzo-soprano roles. These include Pauline in The Queen of Spades, Marina in Boris Godunov, and leading parts in Prokofiev's War and Peace, Prince Igor by her namesake Borodin, and Dargomïzhsky's The Stone Guest. But she has also sung Dalila in Saint-Saëns' Samson et Dalila, Carmen in Bizet's opera, Marguerite in Berlioz' Le Damnation de Faust, and also in Berlioz' Roméo et Juliette and Rachmaninov's All-Night Vigil.

She has sung in Salzburg, Covent Garden in London, San Francisco, Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, the Paris Opera, and other major venues in Rome, Milan, Japan, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Her other engagements included a Metropolitan Opera debut and a first appearance at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Her recordings include Prince Igor, Khovanshchina, War and Peace, and The Queen of Spades. As she is also a highly-regarded recital artist, she has also released discs songs and Lieder, including an all-Tchaikovsky song recital.

The artistic director and chief conductor at St. Petersburg's Mariinsky Theatre, Russian conductor Valery Gergiev is arguably the 21st century's foremost interpreter of Russian operatic repertory. He is also noted as a symphonic conductor and has served as chief conductor of Germany's Munich Philharmonic Orchestra since 2015.

Gergiev was born May 2, 1953, in Moscow. He is of Ossetian background, and during Russia's 2008 war with Georgia over the disputed territory of South Ossetia, he spoke out in support of Russian government actions. He led a 2003 production of Wagner's Ring Cycle at the Mariinsky that included many Ossetian cultural elements in its conception. Gergiev showed musical talent from early childhood, and by his teens he had settled on a career as a conductor. He studied with the famed pedagogue Ilya Musin at the St. Petersburg (then Leningrad) Conservatory and won the Soviet Union's All-Union Conductors' Competition in 1975 while still a student. He followed that up with a win at the Herbert von Karajan Conductors' Competition in Berlin the following year. Those victories led to Gergiev's 1977 appointment as assistant conductor at the Kirov Opera under Yuri Temirkanov and impressed observers with performances of such difficult works as Prokofiev's War and Peace. Gergiev's orchestral conducting career began in the 1980s with his leadership of the Armenian State Orchestra. He assumed the chief conductorship of the Kirov Opera upon Temirkanov's retirement in 1988; after the fall of the Soviet Union, the Kirov Opera and Kirov Theatre reverted to their original Mariinsky names. In addition to conducting operatic productions and symphonic concerts, Gergiev has been general director of the entire Mariinsky theater complex, for which he has overseen extensive renovations.

Gergiev's fame rests above all on his leadership role at the Mariinsky. He has taken companies on tour to many countries, including France (at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris) and the U.S. (a production of Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov at the Metropolitan Opera in New York). He formed the in-house Mariinsky label in 2009 for the marketing of the company's recordings. In 2019, the company issued his recording of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74 ("Pathétique"), which received a five-star rating from Allmusic.com. He has also recorded for Philips and for the LSO Live label of the London Symphony Orchestra, for which he served as chief conductor beginning in 2005. From 1995 to 2008, Gergiev was chief conductor of the Rotterdam Philharmonic, and in 2015 he took up the baton for the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, making several symphonic recordings for that orchestra's in-house label as well.

Gergiev, a strong supporter of Russian president Vladimir Putin, has at times faced criticism for political stances. He characterized members of the Russian dissident rock band Pussy Riot as publicity seekers and backed Putin's increasing repression of LGBT rights in Russia. Members of gay activist groups in New York have interrupted his performances there. On assuming his position in Munich, however, Gergiev affirmed his support for the city's anti-discrimination ordinance. ~ James Manheim