Russian media, quoting family sources, report that the great baritone in undergoing treatment at the Royal Marsden Hospital, London, for a brain tumour that he announced last week.

He is still undergoing tests to determine the extent of the treatment. Dmitri has made his home in London with his wife, Florence, and two children.

The entire music world is praying for a positive outcome for one of its most well-liked and sought-after performers.

The competition goes into its final concerto stages today, for cello, violin and piano.

The qualifying stages on the previous two instruments have been subdued. Decent performances, safe list of finalists, nothing to set the heart racing.

It was much the same last time, and the time before. You have to go back to 1982 to find the last name-drop artist to win the violin competition. (Don’t even mention the voice contest.)

The piano, though…. that’s where the action is.

There are three or four hotly-tipped winners out of six finalists, all of them high-calibre. We’re still calling it as a Lucas vs Lukas showdown, but there’s an excited following for the American George Li, and an air of anticipation for each of the other three.

It’s all down now to fingers on keys.

In 33 years as music director of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan never lived in the city.

He stayed at the Kempinski hotel on the Ku’damm, turning it into an elite hangout for Berlin Phil soloists and guests. You could catch him before breakfast in the pool.

Today there’s a huge painting of Herbie right behind the reception desk.

But, as the surrounding area gets upgraded, the Kempi (built in 1952) is showing its age. The site owners want to pull it down.

So many personal memories will go with it … Maestros of all shapes and sizes, Midori in her teens dining only on desserts, Berthold Goldschmidt talking for hours about Berlin before and after…

Sic transit.

On a caravan holiday with friends in the northeast of England, James Hockey rose at 4.30 to watch the sun rise over the North Sea. He strayed too close to the edge of a cliff and plunged more than 15 metres, shattering a leg and an arm. He is being treated at the university hospital in Middlesborough, from where he tweeted ‘I fell off a cliff’.

James, educated at Birmingham Conservatoire, has performed with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. He is scheduled to play in two BBC Proms this summer.

We wish him a full and swift recovery.

Alexander Harrild, 29, was arrested for drug trafficking in Santiago and is reported to have pleaded guilty. He faces a possible five-year sentence.

Alexander, a graduate of the National Youth Orchestra, plays in the Santiago Philharmonic.

His father, LSO principal tuba and ex-chairman Patrick Harrild, few out to Chile after his arrest and has since returned.