site.btaOpera Singer Boris Christoff: First 30 Years of Immortality

June 28 marks the 30th anniversary of the death of Boris Christoff, Bulgaria's greatest opera singer of all times.

Despite his humble origins, Christoff rose to operating stardom, bringing a commanding stage presence and a smooth, rich, warm and perfectly controlled bass-baritone voice to many of the great acting-singing roles in opera, notably Philip II in Verdi's Don Carlos and the title character in Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov, which became his signature role. Acknowledged as one of the foremost operatic performers of his generation, often described as Chaliapin's successor (who was a formative influence), he was acclaimed for his acting as well as singing. His operatic repertoire covered some 40 roles in six languages, and his career lasted almost 40 years.

Boris Christoff was born in Plovdiv, South Central Bulgaria, on May 18, 1914. The family moved to the capital while Boris was still a child. He graduated in law from Sofia University in 1938 but practised the legal  profession very briefly. As a student, he sang in the choir of Sofia's St Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, and was soloist of the renowned Gusla Folk Choir. 

The turning point in his life came in 1934, when he saw Chaliapin live at the Sofia Opera and decided to give up law and dedicate himself to opera. King Boris III heard him perform with the Gusla Choir and arranged for him a government scholarship to study with the baritone Riccardo Stracciari in Rome's Santa Cecilia Academy in 1942. There, Beniamino Figli heard him and exclaimed: "What an extraordinarily rich voice!" Several months later, he came back after the Allies started bombing Italy. 

The young Bulgarian then went to Vienna and Salzburg (November 1943) to study Wagner and Mozart parts under Muratti during World War II.

He was sent to a concentration camp in Austria but a Frenchman helped him out, and in 1945 he resumed his studies in Rome, and he later became an Italian citizen.

In 1945 he signed his first contract, with the symphony orchestra of the Santa Cecilia Academy. He appeared in concert in Rome in 1946 and made a spectacular opera debut the same year as Colline in Puccini's La Boheme in Reggio di Calabria. In the subsequent season he sang at Rome and Milan's La Scala, appearing as Pimen in Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov. His Salzburg Festival debut was a 1949 performance of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra under Herbert von Karajan. He first sang Boris Godunov in 1949 at London's Covent Garden (in Russian), and over the next 30 years he perfected his interpretation of the mad czar, doing it worldwide more than 600 times in many principal opera houses, and recording it twice. Cognoscenti consider Christoff the best Boris Godunov ever.

In 1949, he married Franca de Rensis, daughter of the founder of the Italian Music Institute Rafaelo de Rensis.

Invited by the Metropolitan Opera House in 1950, Christoff was politically barred from US entry clearance for five years because he originated from a communist country and was suspected to be a Russian spy. Ironically, back home in Bulgaria he was frowned upon by the communist regime because of his "royal connection" and did not return before 1963, when he was granted an entry visa for his mother's funeral. 

He debuted in America as Boris in San Francisco in 1956 and later sang at the Chicago Opera Co. (1956-63), but never at the Met, although he did give a concert in New York City in 1980. 

Christoff's other roles included Prince Galitsky and Khan Kontchak in Borodin's Prince Igor, several Wagner parts: King Marke in Tristan und Isolde, Hagen in Gotterdammerung and Gurnemanz in Parsifal, the leads in Boito's Mefistofele and Massenet's Don Quichotte, and Henry VIII in Donizetti's Anna Bolena. He sang most of the principal bass parts of Verdi's operas, winning considerable praise for his portrayal of Philip II in Don Carlos.

Boris Christoff was full-time member and first soloist of  Milan's La Scala and of Rome's Teatro dell'Opera. He also toured Venice's La Fenice, Naples's Teatro San Carlo, the Arena di Verona, the Paris Grande Opera (of which he was an honorary member), and the Vienna State Opera.

After an aria or at the end of a show, he is known to have been given a standing ovation for more than 30 minutes by ecstatic audiences. In Covent Garden, he was the officially crowned king in the title role in Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov. Covent Garden awarded the Bulgarian a miniature replica of Boris Godunov's crown, solid gold studded with precious stones.

As a champion of Russian vocal music and a distinguished song recitalist, Christoff recorded a complete set of Mussorgsky's songs, as well as songs by Borodin, Glinka, Balakirev, Brahms, Schubert, Schumann and others, Russian folk songs, plus Eastern Orthodox chants by Slav composers (including a famous set recorded at Sofia's St Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in 1976). These recordings have shown the true face of Eastern Orthodoxy in a way that is understandable to all. His Mnogaya Leta (Grant, Oh Lord, Many Years) is arguably the most popular Orthodox chant in Bulgaria.

Christoff was active in tour and recital until 1986. In 1986 he donated his house in Rome for a Bulgarian Academy of Arts and Culture, and in 1977 he donated his house in Sofia to be converted into a museum and a studio for young music talents. The Boris Christoff Music Centre was inaugurated there on May 18, 2000.

Boris Christoff died in Rome on June 28, 1993. As he wished, he was buried in his native Bulgaria.

Even though he spent most of his life abroad, Christoff never forgot his roots. He is unquestionably the most popular Bulgarian opera singer, a performer adored by an entire nation. With his dazzling performance, magical and mellifluous voice, rich culture and unparallelled vocal and acting talents, Christoff won the hearts and minds of professional musicians, critics, fans and ordinary people alike. Thirty years after his passing, his very name remains a symbol and a legend.