REVIEW:If you can get past the heart-stopping voice, the head-turning looks, and the 18th century elegance, you?ll notice romantic spirit that fires everything baritone Dmitri...

REVIEW:

If you can get past the heart-stopping voice, the head-turning looks, and the 18th century elegance, you?ll notice romantic spirit that fires everything baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky sings, from Figaro to folk songs. I Met You, My Love is an unabashed show of musical libido: a collection of Russian romances sung with the patented Hvorostovsky gusto, and accompanied by the Moscow Chamber Orchestra; the Style of Five Russian folk ensemble adds the color, crossover-style, with balalaika, accordion and domra. The end result sounds, surprisingly, an awful lot like Hvorostovsky's alliance with Neapolitan songs. I Met You, My Love is neither complicated nor subtle; that's the fun of it. It's Russian romance with its heart on its sleeve, and oh, that voice.

-- David Simmons, WQXR