'Elvis of Opera' baritone ordered to pay more of earnings to ex-wife and family

Russian baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky was today told by judges he must pay a larger slice of his £1.8million annual earnings to his ex-wife and children.

Hvorostovsky, known as the world's sexiest baritone and "the Elvis of Opera", separated from his ballet dancer first wife Svetlana 10 years ago.

Their twin sons, now aged 13, were also awarded bigger payments by three Appeal Court judges today.

Mrs Hvorostovsky, who gave up her career to support her husband, had gone to court to force him to pay more. A High Court judge last year ordered him to pay her £120,000 a year and £12,500 to each of their sons, plus school fees.

She appealed, demanding £200,000 a year for herself and £20,000 for the children. The three judges, headed by Lord Justice Thorpe, allowed her appeal but limited payments to £140,000 for her and £15,000 for each child.

But he warned Mrs Hvorostovsky she too had responsibilities to the family.

"Plainly she has a responsibility to her husband to operate a prudent economy," he said. "Plainly she must maintain her home in good order. She must also anticipate the future fall in her husband's income."

The couple met in Siberia in 1986 and married in 1989, but the singer later walked out of their London home and they divorced in 2001. He has remarried and has two further children. Hiis first wife still lives in the family home in Islington, which is now worth more than £1million but has been allowed by her to fall into disrepair.

Her daughter Maria, by an earlier marriage, lives rent-free in the basement flat. Hvorostovsky's career has rocketed in the past two decades after his victory in the Cardiff Singer of the World competition.

While the quality of his voice is unquestioned, some serious opera critics have been unnerved by his "beefcake baritone" publicity.

But as his income soared so his divorce payments increased. Last year's High Court judgment had raised the original divorce settlement in 2001 of an annual payout of 113,000.

In the appeal Jonathan Cohen QC, for the wife, said she gave up her career, but Charles Howard QC, for the singer, said this was not lucrative.