Christow, Christoff, Boris, *18 May 1918 Plovdiv, †28 June 1993 Rome, Bulgarian singer (bass). Initially intending to pursue a career as a lawyer, he studied law at the Sofia University; at the same time, he sang as a soloist in the renowned “Gusla” chorus. A scholarship granted by the then Tsar of Bulgaria, Boris III, enabled him to study singing in Rome under R. Stracciari, followed by further studies in Salzburg under Muratti. In 1946, he made his concert debut and soon appeared in Reggio di Calabria as Colline in Puccini’s La Bohème. In 1947, he sang the role of Pimen in Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov in Rome and at La Scala in Milan, followed by the King Mark (Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde) in Venice. In 1948, he performed the role of Dosifei (Mussorgsky’s Khovanshchina) in Trieste and, for the first time, the title role in Boris Godunov (a role that later became one of his most famous creations) in Cagliari and which was also performed in London (1949) and at La Scala (1950). In 1949, he made his debut to great acclaim at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York; in the 1950s, he enjoyed fame as the “the world’s foremost bass singer,” performing on the most renowned opera stages (Milan, New York, Chicago, Paris) as well as at festivals in Verona, Edinburgh and Salzburg. He was distinguished by a magnificent voice, a high level of musical culture and excellent physical attributes; he possessed a versatile repertoire, encompassing Italian, Russian, French and German (Wagner) operas, as well as a rich song repertoire.
Literature: J. Bourgeois Boris Christow, “Opera” 1958 No. 9; O. Dejkova Boris Christow, Sofia 1965.
