A mighty bass was born today
mainIt’s the Boris Christoff centenary.
Born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, on 18 May 1914, Christoff made his operatic debut on 12 May 1946 as Colline in La Bohème at Reggio Calabria. After the Communist takeover, he never sang again in his homeland.
Boris Chistoff was the outstanding Boris Godunov after Chaliapin.
Official biography here.
The Mussorgsky songs are indispensable:
http://www.amazon.de/Mussorgsky-The-Complete-Songs-UK-Import/dp/B00102L5RE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1400410573&sr=8-1&keywords=christoff+mussorgsky+andromeda
THE best bass. Ever!
I remember doing Boris with him in the title role at Chicago Lyric in 1958. He knocked me out! His backwards fall off the throne was thrilling.