NEW YORK – Dmitri Hvorostovsky has withdrawn from all staged opera performances because of treatment for a brain tumour.

The 54-year-old Russian baritone was diagnosed with the tumour in June 2015. He was given emotional receptions when he appeared that fall as the Count di Luna in Verdi’s “Il Trovatore” at New York’s Metropolitan Opera and the title character in Tchaikovsky’s “Eugene Onegin” at London’s Royal Opera.

He sang four performances last month as Giorgio Germont in Verdi’s “La Traviata” at the Vienna State Opera and was due to star in a revival of “Onegin” at the Met next April.

“I have been experiencing balance issues associated with my illness, making it extremely difficult for me to perform in staged productions,” Hvorostovsky said in a statement Thursday.

While he is withdrawing from staged performances, he said he “will continue to give concerts and recitals as well as make recordings. Singing is my life, and I want to continue bringing joy to people worldwide.”

Hvorostovsky also said that “with this pause in my operatic career and more rest in between each engagement, I hope to have more time to focus on my health and treatment.”

He will be replaced in “Onegin” by Mariusz Kwiecien and Peter Mattei.