It is unfortunate when one knows that one's abiding memory of a performance will be the costume. Especially unfortunate if this is not an opera (or play) with special costumes but merely a concert. Triply unfortunate when it happens to have been one of the world's current best singers singing an interesting and intelligently planned concert. Quadruply unfortunate when he was in fine vocal form and in command of the stage, his stage charisma shining through and holding the audience in the palm of his hand.
Much excitement prior to last night's Barbican performance by Dmitri Hvorostovsky. And surprise the concert had got a preview in the Metro although it doesn't seem to be available online. I say intelligently planned because it was an excellent showcase of quite a mixture of Russian music, starting with sacred, moving onto opera, then folk and finally Soviet popular song. As well as Dmitri, we were treated to the Moscow Chamber Orchestra and The Style of 5 Folk Ensemble under Constantine Oberlin and the Moscow Academy of Choral Art Choir.
We started with the choir, directed by Victor Popov singing a cappella, then they were joined by Dimitri. There were four sacred works, all of which I enjoyed tremendously, enjoying a sound very different from the English Choral Sound. There was a pause as the furniture was re-arranged and the orchestra arrived. We went up to the interval with Opera: Gryaznoy's Aria from The Tsar's Bride, the peasants' Chorus Vi mne pisali (You wrote a letter) from Evgeny Onegin, and Budem pit iveselitsya (We'll drink and be merry) and Yeletsky's aria from Queen of Spades. Whisper it quietly but this is my personal highlight of Queen of Spades and Dmitri was wonderful, an excellent climax to the first half, which had been exceptional anyway, regardless of the trousers. 
The programme of the second half was less to my liking, and normally, I would have been indifferent to the content, folk songs and potentially cheesy pop songs - for the latter he used a microphone, which I suppose was appropriate and didn't stop his lustrous baritone from shining through. He seemed to be enjoying that tremendously, and I certainly did, even though that was mainly because of his voice.
There is no doubting that Dmitri has star quality. The concert hall was sold out and although obviously there were plenty of Russian people there, there were plenty more non-Russian. He does good concert, totally professional, there to entertain and deliver money's worth. His is one of those voices I could happily listen to endlessly - in the right repertoire (my mistake was that the first couple of times I heard him was in Rigoletto and Ballo and they were nothing special), a lyric baritone yet with plenty of dark colour when necessary, and some decent head voice. He has an innate musicality, it is difficult to identify any flaws in the technique or the tone, and it all seems so effortless. He cuts a fine figure on stage. A handsome man, who knows his own worth and strides the stage with a supreme confidence.
Afterwards he was doing a signing. As usual I was towards the end of the queue, and as usual I didn't actually have the CD to be signed. I think he was probably a bit fed up and tired by the time he got to me and my friend. I asked if I could take a photo, and although he said, he asked me to take it from the side. Out of politeness I won't publish those photos. They're perfectly fine, although a bit fuzzy because I wasn't using flash.
Silverfin has also written a review which is more intelligent about the music and also mentions the thigh stroking. He was stroking his thigh. And his behind...
