(Credit: Bolshoi Theatre)

Opera singer Vladislav Verestnikov has died at the age of 77.

The news was reported by the Bolshoi Theatre stated that the baritone was suffering from a long illness. 

Born on Jan. 4, 1947, Verestnikov graduated from the Kharkov Institute of Radio Electronics, and then from the vocal department of the Kharkov Institute of Arts.

In 1975, he gained the attention of Irina Arkhipova who was the chairman of the jury of the vocalists’ competition named after M.I. Glinka where he won the fourth prize. He went on to receive an invitation from Irina Konstantinovna to perform with her in Moscow in Tchaikovsky’s opera “The Maid of Orleans” at the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory.

In 1977, Verestnikov enrolled in the Bolshoi Theater’s trainee group and in 1978 he joined the theater’s ensemble. He went on to perform 41 roles at the Bolshoi Theatre including numerous Verdi operas like “Un Ballo in Maschera,” “La Traviata,” “Don Carlo,” “Il Trovatore” “La Forza del Destino,” and “Aida.” He also sang operas by Mozart, Puccini, and Rossini as well as Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev and Mussorgsky.

In 2005, Verestnikov joined the Moscow State Institute of Music and taught vocals at the Galina Vishnevskaya Opera Singing Center.