Customer Reviews

Very Best of Boris Christoff

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If you have always been a Christoff fan you should have this marvellous anthology.
If you never heard him before: meet one of the greatest singers ever. His sound is unique and his interpretations wonderfull. Nobody has ever sung the Kings Aria from Don Carlos so moving as he! ( you can see him do it on You tube) He has been the most sinister Mefisto ( Faust) ever. His Godunov is wonderfull and frightening. What a voice! It is very good that these CD's exist to keep it alive!
Gerard Kind Amsterdam

The great Boris Christoff was a post World War II reigning bass. Bulgarian by birth, Christoff was able to quickly become popular all over the world due to his beautiful robust voice and what can probably be called "method-acting" for the opera. While his voice was not as huge as his fellow-Bulgarian's Nicolai Ghiaurov's, it was still a "force of nature", sometimes causing Christoff to literately "eschew the scene". His skill at clear delivery, making sure that every word is distinguishable and meaningful, is a rare quality in bassos (some even sound like they have their mouths full of kashi), and it allowed him to take on very nuanced art-song repertoire, including Mussorgsky's "Songs and Dances of Death", alas not included in its entirety here (I kept wondering why was it necessary to cut The Lullaby and Serenade from this cycle, and still present "The Nursery", somewhat of an oddity where Christoff lightened his voice to sound entirely un-basso :)).
In addition to his celebrated Russian roles, such as Boris Godunov or Khan Konchak, Christoff was a superb interpreter of Italian and French repertoire. Heard here as Philip II and Mephistopheles, Christoff is at the height of his powers, injecting so much sorrow to the king's lament and such verve to the devil, these characters become very real and three-dimensional.
As to the CD set layout itself, it boasts a large selection from "Boris Godunov", including a spectacular Varlaam's song, several Italian, Russian, and French "greatest hits" (there's also a Chaliapin favorite "Mephistopheles' Song of a Flea", punctuated by chuckles and other "evil" noises; Christoff clearly had a grand time recording it), but it does leave one hungry for more.
Christoff's "Italian Opera Arias" CD is sadly out of print, and his DG recordings are available mostly in Europe (although "Russian Romances and Folksongs" album recently surfaced) and his marvelous Mélodies Russes (French EMI) 5-set CD is very hard to find. But as an excellent introduction to his art, this set is a must-have.

The best of the best. Christoff is tremendous. Great price too. Hear the greatest basso of the 20th century.