Why didn't he ever talk about his first marriage?
His tragic death was a heavy blow for many, and especially for his loved ones. It’s just that in the media, remembering important milestones in the singer’s life, for some reason they still ignore his older children. But after Hvorostovsky’s death they were left complete orphans...
Dmitry Hvorostovsky and his wife Florence were considered by many to be an ideal couple. For his sake, Flosha (as Dmitry affectionately called his wife) gave up her singing career and devoted herself entirely to her family. They were so filled with happiness that everyone forgot that there was another woman in Hvorostovsky’s life. A relationship with which others never approved. And which brought him a lot of suffering.
“I BEATED BOTH OF THEM IN A FURY”
He met the ballerina Svetlana Ivanova, fragile and tender, so in need of protection, backstage at the Krasnoyarsk Opera and Ballet Theater. There, Dmitry began performing while still a student, and Svetlana danced in the corps de ballet. They say that young Hvorostovsky completely lost his head out of love. But those around him condemned this union. In ballet circles they whispered that Sveta loved the opposite sex too much, so she was unlikely to remain faithful to her ardent lover. In addition, she, a couple of years older than him, was already married, and had a daughter, Maria, from her first marriage. And after the divorce, she continued to live in the same apartment with her ex-husband.
Dmitry looked after Svetlana for about two years. Then he moved her and her daughter to his small apartment. And after a while, he officially legalized the relationship, at the same time adopting a girl, Masha...
And yet, it was not for nothing that those around him were against this relationship and actively hinted to Dmitry about Svetlana’s love of love. After the wedding, an extremely unpleasant episode happened - as if from a joke about a “horned husband.” Hvorostovsky was on tour and, having decided to surprise his beloved wife, returned earlier. The surprise was truly a success - on the marital bed he found Svetlana with his closest friend. And, always calm and unperturbed, this time he could not restrain himself.
“In a rage, he beat both of them so hard that it didn’t seem like much. The man had two broken ribs, and Sveta had his ovaries completely knocked off. That’s why she couldn’t give birth for so long, she was undergoing treatment,” one of the dancers of the Krasnoyarsk theater, who was closely acquainted with the singer’s family, later told reporters about this case.
What was the fate of Dmitry Hvorostovsky’s first wife, ballerina Svetlana Ivanova?
This coming fall will mark the third anniversary of the untimely death of the outstanding opera singer Dmitry Aleksandrovich Hvorostovsky. The performer died in London, after a long battle with a brain tumor, at the age of 55.
Photo: muzh-zhena Dmitry Hvorostovsky and his first wife Svetlana Ivanova
The People's Artist of the Russian Federation was officially married twice and raised five heirs: three daughters and two sons (the eldest daughter Maria is adopted, from the previous marriage of his first wife). For the first time, Dmitry Aleksandovich tied the knot at the dawn of the 90s, and his chosen one was a corps de ballet dancer named Svetlana Ivanova. He was so deeply in love that he was not embarrassed by the age difference, or the fact that the girl had a child from a previous relationship, or the active protests of her parents.
Their marriage lasted about nine years, but, despite the birth of two common heirs, the couple still separated in the late 90s. In this article we will tell you about how the fate of Dmitry Hvorostovsky’s first legal wife unfolded after their difficult and high-profile separation.
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Dmitry Hvorostovsky and Svetlana Ivanova before they met
The future opera singer was born in Krasnoyarsk, in 1962, on October sixteenth, into a simple family that had no direct connection to the stage. The head of the family worked as a chemical engineer, and my mother worked in a hospital as a gynecologist. The boy's father was fond of music, played the piano well and had a powerful baritone, which his son inherited. Little Dima began singing at the age of four, performing folk songs and romances. Even then it became clear that he had a great future on the professional stage.
Photo: biographe.ru Dmitry Hvorostovsky in childhood
The boy attended a music school, where he learned to play the piano, but studying at a regular school was difficult for him. In the tenth grade, the aspiring performer received such an unflattering review that he subsequently preferred not to even remember his school years.
Having received a certificate, Dmitry became a student in the music department of the Krasnoyarsk Pedagogical College. In his youth, he was fond of rock music, was a vocalist and keyboard player in a youth group, and even planned to leave his studies, but changed his mind, and still received a diploma as a music teacher.
In 1982, Dmitry entered the vocal department of the Krasnoyarsk Institute of Arts, which he graduated with honors. For five years he served as a soloist at the Krasnoyarsk Opera and Ballet Theater. In 1989, he won the international opera singing competition “Cardiff Voices”, after which he was invited to perform at the best opera houses in the world. In the mid-80s, the performer met his future first wife, Svetlana.
Photo: stuki-druki.com Dmitry Hvorostovsky in his youth
Svetlana Hvorostovskaya's maiden name was Ivanova. She was born in Krasnoyarsk in 1959, from a young age she was seriously involved in choreography, and became a ballerina in the corps de ballet of the Krasnoyarsk Opera and Ballet Theater. Before meeting Dmitry, she was married to a musician, divorced, and raised her daughter Maria, born in 1982, in her previous relationship.
Dmitry Hvorostovsky and Svetlana Ivanova: a love story
The young people met at work, when both served in the same opera and ballet theater. We can say that their romance began in the theater backstage, when young Dmitry saw the beautiful Svetlana and fell madly in love with her. At that time he was a beginner, but very promising opera singer, and she was a fairly successful ballerina performing in the corps de ballet.
The chosen one was three years older than the performer; she was divorced from her first husband, but continued to live with him in the same apartment, albeit in different rooms. The former spouses had a common little daughter, Masha, who was growing up. In addition, Svetlana was a very impressive and attractive woman, she had a lot of fans, and, according to some sources, she gained a reputation as a flighty lady. Also, the young singer’s parents, having learned about his affair, were categorically against their son’s relationship with Svetlana. However, none of these circumstances affected Dmitry's feelings and determination.
Photo: kulturologia.ru Dmitry Hvorostovsky and Svetlana Ivanova with their daughter Maria
Two years after they met, the singer moved his beloved to his room in a communal apartment, and about a year later, in 1991, the couple got married. Many of Hvorostovsky’s entourage were sharply against this marriage, but the young man didn’t even want to listen to anyone. He not only married Svetlana, but also adopted her heir Masha, whom he accepted and loved as his own child.
At first, the couple’s family life was quite harmonious and happy. According to friends and colleagues, Dmitry doted on his wife: he showered her with flowers and compliments, literally carried her in his arms, and simply did not notice other women. The performer simply did not pay attention to rumors about the reputation of his chosen one; for him she was the most beloved and desired, but one day, the scene he saw turned out to be much more eloquent than any words.
One day, the young husband decided to surprise Svetlana and returned from tour a little earlier, without warning her about it. He caught his wife, as they say, “in the heat” - right in bed with her lover - his friend and theater colleague. Hvorostovsky was beside himself with anger and frustration, he attacked both of them with his fists, so much so that neither the traitor nor her lover, whom he broke two ribs, thought it was enough. However, despite the betrayal, Dmitry found the strength to forgive Svetlana, which indicates the sincerity of his feelings for his wife.
Photo: foto-history.livejournal.com Dmitry Hvorostovsky and Svetlana Ivanova with twins Alexandra and Daniel
A few years later, the couple acquired property in London and moved to live in Foggy Albion. For a long time they dreamed of a common heir, but Svetlana still could not get pregnant. According to some reports, after moving to Europe, the couple resorted to in vitro fertilization, which resulted in the birth of twins in 1996: daughter Alexandra and son Daniel. But, unfortunately, even the birth of common children did not help cement this union.
Gradually, the relationship between the spouses began to heat up and deteriorate: they regularly argued, Dmitry complained that his wife, having lived for several years in London, was in no hurry to learn English, and in general, she stopped striving for anything, but she did not stop being interested in other men. Due to constant quarrels and a tense atmosphere at home, Dmitry began to relieve stress with alcohol. He had serious health problems, a stomach ulcer developed, and his successful career almost went downhill, but the man was saved by his new love.
Dmitry Hvorostovsky and Svetlana Ivanova: divorce
In 1999, during a tour, the opera singer met his future second wife, a native of Geneva named Florence Illy, who was able to return him to normal life. Then Dmitry Alexandrovich was supposed to perform the role of Don Juan at the Geneva Opera House, and the young pianist and singer Florence played the role of one of his mistresses. According to the script, Hvorostovsky was supposed to kiss her passionately on stage.
Photo: stuki-druki.com Dmitry Hvorostovsky with his first wife Svetlana and child
But the girl liked the charismatic and incredibly talented artist so much that she began to actively seek his attention and affection. The performer immediately admitted to the sultry brunette that he was legally married and was raising three heirs, but this did not bother Illy at all and did not stop him. For some time the man tried to pretend that the girl did not bother him at all, however, he could not refuse the loving and very persistent beauty, because he himself was imbued with warm feelings for her.
The divorce from his first lover and mother of his two children, Svetlana, was quite difficult and painful for both. They say that Ivanova never expected that her eternally faithful, devoted and all-forgiving Dima would decide to leave for another woman. When it came to the division of property, Svetlana took almost everything for herself: an apartment, a spacious house, a car, and also achieved maintenance for herself and her children in the amount of 170 thousand pounds sterling per year.
In addition, out of jealousy and resentment, the woman stopped all communication with her ex-husband, and also prevented him from communicating with the children, who were still very young at the time of the divorce. Dmitry Alexandrovich was very worried about this, but tried to do everything so that his ex-wife and heirs did not need anything.
Photo: globalsib.com Dmitry Hvorostovsky and Svetlana Ivanova with their daughter
How Svetlana Ivanova lived after the divorce
It was not possible to quickly file a divorce from his first wife, and all the nuances were finally settled, and the marriage was dissolved only after almost two years. Svetlana, after separating from her husband, decided to stay and live in London with her children. The woman never worked anywhere, and the assigned maintenance from her ex-husband allowed her to live comfortably for her own pleasure. According to the terms of the contract, Hvorostovsky could stop paying Ivanova money if she got married again. However, the woman did not tie the knot for the third time.
More than ten years after the divorce, Svetlana again sued her ex-husband, demanding, due to his significantly increased income, to increase her annual allowance. Dmitry Alexandrovich agreed and began to pay his former family twice as much money as before, namely: 340 thousand pounds sterling per year.
The performer himself married for the second time in 2001, shortly after the completion of a complex divorce process with his first wife. For the sake of her husband, Florence quickly managed to master the Russian language so as not to have problems communicating with relatives and friends of her beloved man. In July 2003, the couple had their first common child, a son, Maxim, and in July 2007, Illy gave her husband a daughter, who was named Nina.
Photo: bulvar.com.ua Dmitry Hvorostovsky with his first wife Svetlana and adopted daughter
In 2015, it became known that the performer was struggling with a serious illness - a brain tumor. When Svetlana found out about his diagnosis, she immediately called her once beloved man to support him. Since the relationship between the former spouses remained strained, their telephone conversation was short-lived, and then no one expected that it would be the last.
Svetlana died suddenly a few months later, at the end of the same year 2015, at the age of 56 years. The cause of the woman's death was meningitis complicated by sepsis.
Dmitry Alexandrovich was informed about the tragedy during the tour. Despite long-standing disagreements and conflicts, he took this news seriously, and was also very worried about their common heirs: Alexandra and Daniel, who were nineteen years old at that time. Unfortunately, he was never able to come to the funeral of his first wife, because he was far from London. Svetlana was buried in Highgate Cemetery.
Photo: biographe.ru Dmitry Hvorostovsky with all his heirs
Hvorostovsky, no matter what, was always very close to his older children. The son also decided to connect his life with music, mastered playing the guitar and performed in a rock band, and the daughter became an artist. After the death of his ex-wife, the opera singer promised his children that he would now love them for both. He continued to help the heirs, paid for their studies, supported them in everything, and they, in turn, tried as best they could to help their father overcome his serious illness. However, less than two years after Svetlana’s death, on November 22, 2017, Dmitry Alexandrovich also passed away, despite the fact that the forged illness briefly subsided, giving him and his loved ones hope for recovery.
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“FLOSHA SAVED ME”
But even after this incident, Dmitry continued to love his wife. He believed her promises that this was the first and last betrayal and that everything would be different in the future. And therefore, when in 1994 Hvorostovsky was invited to work in London, Svetlana and her daughter Masha went with him to their new place of residence.
In 1996, a joyful event happened in the life of the couple: twins were born - son Daniel and daughter Alexandra. It would seem that there is nothing else to dream about: his career is going uphill, his beautiful wife and two kids are waiting at home. However, scandals began to occur more and more often in the family. Due to nervousness, Hvorostovsky developed an ulcer. He also started drinking. Constantly increasing the dose.
“I’m a person without brakes, sometimes I started and couldn’t stop,” the singer later recalled. – At some point, my memory began to fail, I did not always control my actions. This was already an alarming signal. Up to a certain point, the talent allowed us to get away with it, but this could not continue forever.”
It was during that period that she appeared, his savior. In 1999, Hvorostovsky performed in Geneva as Don Juan. One of the small roles was played by singer Florence Illy. According to the plot, Dmitry was supposed to kiss her...
The singer himself, even despite the turbulent situation in the family, was not going to change anything. It seemed to him that relations with Svetlana could still be improved, and life would go on as usual. Therefore, before the kiss, just in case, he warned Florence: “I have a wife and two children.” But soon he himself fell before the charms of an attractive Italian woman with French roots.
“It was she who saved me, Flosha,” Dmitry said later. “With her, my life began to sparkle with bright colors!” I think, breathe, and sing easily. I have always been looking for inner balance and thanks to this woman I found it. Everything fell into place. Flosha allows me to be myself, she treats with great reverence what I do in my profession - and this is very important for me.”
Hvorostovsky children
Dmitry was a father of many children and from his first marriage he has twins, and the ballerina’s daughter was adopted. In his second marriage to Florence, they had two children, Maxim and Nina.
Dmitry Hvorostovsky and his wife experienced true happiness, all the children were friendly, they vacationed together and were on vacation, and often visited. Photos of Dmitry Hvorostovsky’s wife can be seen on social networks; the woman constantly talks about the pleasant and tragic moments of her life.
Dmitry Hvorostovsky and his wife treated their children’s upbringing responsibly and introduced them to events from childhood, which is why both Maxim and Nina have a true love for the stage. Now the son writes music and dreams of becoming an opera singer, while he gravitates towards football. Nina took up vocals from an early age and constantly remembers her beloved daddy, because his entire biography is based on opera.
Hvorostovsky’s first wife was no less a creative person, she studied ballet, but those children took a different path and both graduated from university.
Perhaps interesting: Wife of Igor Sarukhanov, Husband of Aida Garifulina.
HARD DIVORCE
When Dmitry told Svetlana about his desire to get a divorce, she at first thought it was some kind of stupid joke. Over the years of marriage, she has already become accustomed to the fact that, no matter how events develop, in the end everything is always forgiven to her.
The divorce was not easy. As a result, Svetlana managed to sue almost all the property that had been acquired over the years of their life together. Hvorostovsky left for Florence almost lightly, and his ex-wife remained in a large house in an elite area of London, with a luxury car parked there and with substantial alimony to support the children. Moreover, 10 years later, when Hvorostovsky’s career soared to unprecedented heights, Svetlana managed to double this amount. In addition, according to the court decision, the singer had to provide for his ex-wife until she got married.
But even despite the solid content, Svetlana continued to curse Dmitry, considering him a traitor. She turned the children against their father, which Hvorostovsky himself took very seriously. He literally had to fight every meeting with his daughter Sasha and son Daniil. When Dmitry was asked about children from his first marriage in an interview, he always diligently avoided this topic, honestly admitting: it was too painful for him.
