Today, the world mourns the loss of Elena Obraztsova (1939 — 2015), one of the greatest opera singers of all time. Hibla Gerzmava expresses her condolences and dedicates her tonight’s performance of Jacques Offenbach’s Les contes d’Hoffmann at the Metropolitan Opera, New York to the memory of the great singer and actress. It was Elena Obraztsova who handed the Grand Prix of the 10th International Tchaikovsky Competition to Hibla Gerzmava in 1994 thus marking the start of her professional career. Elena Obraztsova’s death is a devastating loss for the musical world.