Boris Christow

Boris Christow

Boris Christow , also Boris Christoff , Bulgarian Борис Христов (born May 18, 1914 in Plovdiv , Bulgaria , † June 28, 1993 in Rome , Italy ) was a Bulgarian opera and lied singer ( bass ) who spent most of his career in Italy and became known as an interpreter of the works of Modest Mussorgsky and Giuseppe Verdi .

Life

Boris Christov was born in the house of the von Sowitschanow family in Plovdiv, where his father was a teacher at the time. However, his family comes from Bitola in Macedonia (see Macedonian Bulgarians ). As a boy, Boris Christov sang in the choir of the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Sofia . Although he had studied law and only practiced singing on the side, he was offered a scholarship in 1942. He accepted it and in the same year moved to Italy to study singing, especially with the famous baritone Riccardo Stracciari (1875–1955). Christow's official debut took place in 1946 at the Reggio Calabria Theater as Colline in La Bohème . His artistic breakthrough followed a year later in the Rome Opera with the role of Pimen in “Boris Godunov” by Modest Mussorgskis . A short time later he appeared at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice in the role of Gurnemanz in Richard Wagner's “Parsifal” and then in September 1947 at La Scala in Milan as Pimen, alongside Tancredi Pasero (1893–1983) in the title role. When he then took on the title role in 1949, that was his brilliant role for the next few years. On October 19, 1949 he made his debut at the Covent Garden Opera in London.

In the 1950s and 1960s he reached the peak of his career. Boris Christow was able to celebrate the greatest success of his artistic career in 1958 as King Philip under the musical direction of Carlo Maria Giulini (1914–2005) at the Covent Garden Opera. Boris Christow returned to La Scala in Milan in 1960 as King Philip. However, in 1964 he contracted a brain tumor and had to undergo serious surgery. In the following year, with almost superhuman energy, he returned to the stage. He resumed his singing career at London's Covent Garden Opera, which he only gradually dismantled in the 1970s. During this time he sang Gurnemanz im ( Parsifal ) in Italian and recorded Boris Godunow twice , interpreting the three roles of Boris, Pimen and Warlaam in a very differentiated way. One of the main focuses of his repertoire was songs by Russian composers such as Peter Tchaikovsky , Michail Glinka , Alexander Borodin and especially Modest Mussorgsky , all of which he recorded for EMI.

Boris Christow was the first of a series of internationally sought-after Bulgarian basses; followed him a. Nikolaj Gjaurow (whose career and repertoire show similarities with his), Dimitar Petkow , Nikola Gjusselew , Sabin Markow and Anton Djakow .

Of the 120 roles that were part of Boris Christov's repertoire, he sang Boris Godunov alone around 600 times. Mephisto in “Faust” by Charles Gounod and King Philip in Giuseppe Verdi's “Don Carlos” were also among his brilliant roles. On June 22, 1986 he gave his farewell concert at the Bulgarian Academy in Rome. Christow died on June 23, 1993 in Rome.

Honors

In 1969 Christow was awarded the Léonie Sonning Music Prize. In the capital Sofia a music center was named after him, which has been awarded the European Heritage Label by the Bulgarian state . Since 2004 he has been the namesake for the Christow Kliff in Antarctica.

Web links

• www.borischristoff.dir.bg