Boris Christoff (Bulgarian: Борис Кирилов Христов, written using the Latin alphabet as Boris Kirilov Hristov, IPA: [boˈris ˈkiriɫof ˈxristof]; born May 18, 1914; died June 28, 1993) was a Bulgarian opera singer. He was recognized as one of the greatest bass singers of the 20th century.

Early life

He was born in Plovdiv on May 18, 1914, to parents Kyryl Christov and Rayna Teodorova. His grandfather, Hristo Sovichanov, was a well-known singer at Bitola, which was part of the Ottoman Empire at that time. He sang in the Bulgarian Exarchist church, and during religious services, many people, including Turks and Jews, gathered outside the church to listen to him. Hristo was also a Bulgarian revolutionary, as was his son Kyryl. After the failure of the Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising, they moved to Bulgaria. All three of Hristo’s children were skilled singers. Kyryl, who was the father of Boris Christoff, was a tenor who performed in secular and church choirs, as well as for Radio Sofia and the Institute of Music at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.

Boris Christoff showed talent for singing early in life and performed with the famous choir Gusla. In 1938, he completed his studies in law and began working as a magistrate. He continued singing in his free time with the Gusla Chorus in Sofia, becoming a highly successful soloist in 1940. He also sang with the choir of St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Sofia and the Academic Choir. With the help of a government grant, Christoff traveled to Italy in May 1942. There, he studied for two years under Riccardo Stracciari, a respected baritone from an earlier generation, to learn the core Italian bass repertoire.

Performance career

After two visits to Bulgaria in 1943, Boris Christoff traveled to Austria. He studied in Vienna, Prague, and Salzburg, and performed in Vienna and Dresden. In 1944, he was arrested and sent to a prison camp near Feldkirch. He was released in May 1945 by French troops. A commanding colonel, after hearing his singing, helped him move to Italy. Later, Boris Hristov tried to find this person ("He was my savior!"), but was unable to locate him.

His first concert in Italy took place in December 1945 in Rome with the Symphony Orchestra of the Santa Cecilia Academy of Music. The concert featured music from Bulgaria and Russia. Christoff made his operatic debut as Colline in La bohème at Reggio Calabria on 12 March 1946. In the following years, he performed in many roles at Milan’s La Scala, Venice’s La Fenice, the Rome Opera, Covent Garden in London, and opera theaters in Naples, Barcelona, Lisbon, Rio de Janeiro, and other cities.

In 1950, he was invited to sing at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. However, he was not allowed to enter the United States because of the McCarran Immigration Act, which prevented citizens from Eastern Bloc countries from entering the country. The role was instead performed by the young Italian basso, Cesare Siepi. After restrictions were lifted, Christoff made his operatic debut in the United States in 1956 at the San Francisco Opera. He refused further invitations to the Metropolitan Opera and never performed there again. After a short break from performing due to brain tumor surgery in 1964, Christoff returned to his career.

In the 1970s, Christoff’s on-stage performances became less frequent. At St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Sofia, he recorded Bulgarian and Russian religious chants with the cathedral choir and conductor Angel Popkonstantinov. He actively participated in creating the recording. In 1978, he recorded Liturgia Domestica by Alexander Grechaninov at the same cathedral. The recording included the Bulgarian Choir Chapel Svetoslav Obretenov and a small string ensemble from the Symphony Orchestra of the Bulgarian Radio, with conductor Georgi Robev. This was the first recording of the Domestic Liturgy, and it was the first time an orchestra was included in its performance, even though it was small.

Christoff ended his career 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. He lay in repose in St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral and was buried in section 46 of Sofia Central Cemetery.

Voice, repertoire, character

Boris Christoff had a strong and unique voice with a deep, dark tone. His voice was not the largest among bass singers, but he could still be heard clearly in large spaces like the San Francisco Opera. Because of his powerful presence on stage and his dramatic personality, he was considered a valuable successor to a long tradition of famous Slavonic bass singers, including Fyodor Stravinsky, Lev Sibiriakov, Vladimir Kastorsky, Feodor Chaliapin, Alexander Kipnis, and Mark Reizen. He performed mainly in operas by Verdi and Russian composers, and he also performed well in small musical pieces for voice and piano. Some of his most famous roles included Tsar Boris in Boris Godunov by Mussorgsky, Philip II in Don Carlo by Verdi, Mephistopheles in Faust by Gounod and Mefistofele by Boito, Ivan Susanin in A Life for the Tsar by Glinka, Zaccaria in Nabucco by Verdi, Tsar Ivan in Ivan the Terrible by Rimsky-Korsakov, Dosifei in Khovanshchina by Mussorgsky, Gomez da Silva in Ernani by Verdi, Fiesco in Simon Boccanegra by Verdi, Attila in Attila by Verdi, Padre Guardiano in La forza del destino by Verdi, and Galitzky and Kontchak in Prince Igor by Borodin.

Christoff recorded studio versions of eight operas, including Don Carlo, Boris Godunov, and Faust twice each, and he also made many live recordings of performances on radio or stage. He was highly respected as a singer of songs and recorded more than 200 Russian songs by composers such as Mussorgsky, Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Glinka, Borodin, Cui, and Balakirev, as well as traditional songs, mostly accompanied by piano.

Christoff helped create a tradition of recording Boris Godunov with the same singer performing three roles: Boris Godunov, Varlaam, and Pimen. In 1952, he participated in a famous recording of this opera in Paris. At the request of the conductor Issay Dobrowen, he sang all three roles, which he performed with clear differences in character. Musicologist Marcel Clavery noted that the only similarity between the roles was the beauty of Christoff’s voice. This recording earned him an international award for a record in 1953. In 1963, he recorded Boris Godunov again in Paris, once more performing all three roles. He suggested that the choir from the Sofia Opera be included in the recording. An EMI representative traveled to Sofia to listen to the choir and agreed to their participation. The recording, conducted by André Cluytens, was called a success.

Although Christoff was a respected performer on stage, he had difficult relationships with some singers and producers offstage, which sometimes led to public conflicts. In 1955, he had a disagreement with Maria Callas during performances of Medea at the Rome Opera. In 1961, his contract with La Scala was ended after a public argument with another Bulgarian singer, Nicolai Ghiaurov. In fact, Christoff helped bring Ghiaurov and Dimitar Uzunov to La Scala by inviting them to perform with him in Boris Godunov. Ghiaurov, whose brother worked in the Bulgarian Communist Party, later criticized Christoff and called him a "fascist." Christoff accused Ghiaurov of supporting the communist government. The communist government disliked Christoff so much that it even prevented him from returning to Bulgaria for his father’s funeral, which made Ghiaurov’s rivalry with Christoff worse. Herbert von Karajan once asked Christoff to sing the title role in Don Giovanni, which was not suitable for his voice range. This led Christoff to stop working with von Karajan.

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

Recordings

Many recordings are available. The following list includes some examples.

• All of Mussorgsky’s songs are available, produced by EMI.
• He recorded the Verdi Requiem three times: once with Tullio Serafin in Rome in 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 important Wagner roles are available, both sung in Italian: Gurnemanz in Parsifal, conducted in Rome in 1950 by Vittorio Gui, and Pogner the goldsmith in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, conducted (studio) by Lovro von Matačić in Torino in 1962.
• Lugano Recital 1976 [DVD]

Awards

Boris Christov has received many honors and awards. These include:
• Commendatore della Repubblica italiana
• People's artist of Bulgaria
• Doctor of Honor from the Paris Opera
• Commander of the Order of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul (Brazil)

He has also been given several music awards, such as the Grand Prix du Disque (1953) – the highest international award given by the French Academy for Gramophone Recordings. Other awards include:
• Académie du Disque Français (1953, 1957)
• Académie Charles Cros (1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958)
• Edison Award (1964)
• Sonning Award (1969; Denmark)
• And other awards.

Honors

A rocky cliff that forms Aytos Point on the eastern part of Livingston Island, Antarctica, near Bransfield Strait, is named in his honor.