Boris Christoff

Boris Christoff was a Bulgarian operatic bass of the 20th century who specialized in roles from Verdi and Mussorgsky. He was also active as a recitalist and made several recordings of songs by Mussorgsky, Tchaikovsky, and other Romantic era composers. He was born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria in 1914. His mother was Russian, and his father was a Bulgarian teacher who also sang at a nearby church. Christoff began singing when he was very young, and he sang in the choir at the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Sofia. Although his musical talents were already apparent, he decided to study law at Sofia University. After he finished his schooling in the late 1930s, he worked as a magistrate, and he sang in the Gusla Chorus. This led to his discovery as a singer in 1940, when he performed for King Boris of Bulgaria as a soloist with the chorus. The king was very impressed and offered Christoff a scholarship to learn from Riccardo Stracciari, who was one of the top operatic baritones of the time. In 1942, Christoff left his position as a magistrate and traveled to Rome, where he studied with Stracciari for two years. Then he continued his education with Muratti in Salzburg, but he was detained in a Nazi labor camp near the end of World War II. After his release in 1945 he traveled back to Italy, and in 1946 he made his opera debut in Reggio di Calabria as Colline in Puccini’s La boheme. The following year he sang the role of Pimen in Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov, in debut performances in both Rome and at La Scala. His interpretation of the title role in 1949 at Covent Garden was wildly successful and it became one of his specialties. Throughout the ’50s he was in high demand in Europe with appearances in Barcelona and Paris, and he sang several roles at La Scala. In 1956 he made his U.S. debut in the title role of Boris Godunov with the San Francisco Opera. This led to further American engagements with the Chicago Lyric Opera from 1957 to 1963. In addition to his association with the Boris role, he was known for his expertise in Verdi’s bass roles, especially King Philip II from Don Carlo. He took a brief hiatus in 1964 when he received medical treatment for a brain tumor. He resumed his music career the following year and maintained a slower pace until his final major U.S. performance in 1980. This also happened to be his debut in New York, although he never sang any operas there. He sang infrequently until his last public appearance in Rome at the Accademia di Bulgaria in 1986. Christoff passed away in Rome in 1993, and his body was buried in the Central Sofia Cemetery in Bulgaria. ~ RJ Lambert