Boris Christoff

Boris Christoff (, ; 18 May 1914 – 28 June 1993) was a Bulgarian opera singer, widely considered one of the greatest basses of the 20th century. His grand-father Hristo Sovichanov had been a famous cantor at Bitola (then in the Ottoman Empire). Where he was singing in the Bulgarian Exarchist church, during the service many other believers (Turks, Jews) gathered in front of the church entrance to listen to him. Being also a Bulgarian revolutionary, as well as his son Kyryl, after the defeat of the Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising, they moved to Bulgaria. All three of Hristo's children were good singers, Kyryl (Boris Christoff's father) was a tenor, sang at secular and church choirs, sang also for Radio Sofia and for the Institute of Music at the BAS.

Boris Christoff demonstrated early his singing talent and sang at the famous choir Gusla. In 1938 he graduated in law and started a career as a magistrate. He continued singing in his spare time in the Gusla Chorus in Sofia, achieving an enormous success as the chorus soloist in 1940; he was also singing at the choir of the St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Sofia and the Academic Choir.

His first concert in Italy was in December 1945 in Rome with the Symphony orchestra of the Santa Cecilia Academy of Music, and was dedicated to Bulgarian and Russian music. Boris Christoff took an active part in the very work of creating the record. In 1978, he again recorded in the same cathedral Liturgia Domestica by Alexander Grechaninov, with the participation of the Bulgarian Choir Chapel Svetoslav Obretenov and a small string ensemble from the Symphony Orchestra of the Bulgarian Radio and conductor Georgi Robev. This is the first recording in the world of the Domestic Liturgy, and for the first time an orchestra was included in its performance, albeit a small one.

He brought his career to an end with a final concert at the Accademia di Bulgaria in Rome on 22 June 1986. He died in Rome in 1993 and his body was returned to Bulgaria, lay in repose in St. Alexander Nevski Cathedral

Christoff made studio recordings of eight operas (Don Carlo, Boris Godunov and Faust twice each) In 1963 he was invited for the second time to record Boris Godunov in Paris, again performing all three bass roles. Нe suggested that the choir of the Sofia Opera be invited as well. An EMI representative was sent for an audition in Sofia, who was convinced of Boris Hristov's judgement, and so the choir took part in the recording conducted by André Cluytens, called triumphal.

While he was a grand performer on stage, Christoff had difficult off-stage relations with some fellow singers and producers, which sometimes grew into public scandals. In 1955 he fell out with Maria Callas during the performances of Medea at the Rome Opera. In 1961 his contract with La Scala was terminated after an open conflict with fellow Bulgarian Nicolai Ghiaurov. In fact, Boris Christoff opened the way for the Bulgarian singers Nikolay Ghiaurov and Dimitar Uzunov to La Scala—it is entirely his merit to attract them as his partners in Boris Godunov. The ambitious Ghiaurov, whose brother Kostadin Ghiaurov was a senior functionary of the Bulgarian Communist Party, began to speak out against him and call him a "fascist", and Boris Christoff blamed him for collaborating with the Bulgarian communist regime. The communist regime's hatred for Christoff who was not even allowed to go to Bulgaria for his father's funeral pushed Ghiaurov further into rivalry with Christoff. Herbert von Karajan tried to make Boris Christoff sing the title role in Don Giovanni which would have been inappropriate for his range; this prompted him to sever relations with von Karajan.

He was the brother-in-law of the Italian baritone Tito Gobbi.

Recordings

Many recordings are available. The following list contains just a few.

His complete songs by Mussorgsky are available, produced by EMI. He recorded the Verdi Requiem 3 times, once under Tullio Serafin in Rome 1959, once with Herbert von Karajan and once with Bruno Bartoletti. Two recordings of Boris Godunov are available with Christoff singing three roles: Boris, Pimen, and Father Varlaam. Two performances in major Wagner roles are available, both sung in Italian: Gurnemanz in Parsifal conducted in Rome 1950 by Vittorio Gui, and Pogner the goldsmith in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, conducted (studio) by Lovro von Matačić in Torino 1962. Lugano Recital 1976 [DVD]

Awards Commendatore della Repubblica italiana People's artist of Bulgaria Academie du Disque Français (1953, 1957), Academie Charles Cros (1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958), Sonning Award (1969; Denmark) and others.

Honors

A rocky cliff forming Aytos Point on the coast of Bransfield Strait, eastern Livingston Island, Antarctica is named after him.