Dmitri Hvorostowski was born October 16, 1962, the same year as my son Peter, and the same day nine years later that my father would die. Hvorostowski himself died of a brain tumor on Peter’s birthday, November 22, 2017. Perhaps these dates are the way the universe underscores the importance to me of Hvorostowski as a dramatic expression of my heart’s spirit.
Not only was he the world’s most powerful male voice as a singer in his lifetime, that power was embodied by an absolute passionate joy of life of the most extraordinary marriage of physical beauty and energetic charisma, without a moment of doubt of his gifts as a performer, nor any tinge of superiority born of self-infatuation. His talent soared on the wings of his grace.
He performed with renowned orchestras, choruses, and other stellar soloists in packed concert arenas—and the pulse of everyone present was infused with a tremor of self-awareness perhaps never otherwise experienced except for, say, something on the order of a shooting star on the day of their child’s birth.
We are privileged to be reminded that the all-consuming celebration of existence Hvorostowski will offer the human family in recorded form in perpetuity resides in the heart of us all. I certainly know that the blaze of divine love he carried within him I carry within me, and that I have fought so ferociously to honor against the karmic challenges of ignorance we all battle at this place in humankind’s spiritual unfolding.
I cannot recall how I discovered Hvorostowski a few years ago, nor how yesterday I was prompted to watch some recorded performances—leading me to sob uncontrollably at the beauty of him and me and all of life.
I was also presented with a question, a rare gift since I’m always on the lookout for those seminal inquiries of transformation that can mark the awakening of any of us.
This one was: Suppose you knew as well as you know your own name that every person on earth during your lifetime will be profoundly influenced by every choice you make, every action you take. What then?
One of your most powerful pieces of writing, Steve. Thank you! I’m sharing this.
His music and this piece = compelling, inspiring, polishing the soul, one more time, and then again.