Boris Christoff |

Boris Christoff

He made his debut in 1946 in Rome (the part of Collen in La bohème). From 1947 he performed at La Scala (debut as Pimen), in the same year he performed at the invitation of Dobrovein as Boris Godunov. In 1949 he performed the part of Dositheus here. In 1949, he performed for the first time at Covent Garden (the part of Boris). He sang parts of the Russian repertoire at La Scala (Konchak, 1951; Ivan Susanin, 1959; etc.). He performed the role of Procida in Verdi’s Sicilian Vespers (1951, Florence). In 1958 he sang with great success the part of Philip II in Covent Garden, in 1960 he performed it at the Salzburg Festival.

Christov is one of the largest basses of the 20th century. Among the parts are Mephistopheles (Gounod and Boito), Rocco in Fidelio, Gurnemanz in Parsifal and others. Among the recordings are the parts of Boris, Pimen, Varlaam (conductor Dobrovein, EMI), Philip II (conductor Santini, EMI) and others.

E. Tsodokov