Boris Christoff recording Boris Godunov

[cantorga]

He is the pride and glory and boast of my native Bulgaria

[winobuff]

Fascinating. Thank you!!

[adeverger]

That is nothing short of pure genius!!

[ernstdaniel1]

Unbelievable..what a glory..what a voice..what a personality.. Please singers LEARN!!! Tears and joy fight eachother listening to this God-Given Artist..

[vivascargill]

The greatest voice I have ever heard. Is there a DVD?

[clytemnestre1]

@vivascargill Yes you can find Boris Godounov/Christoff CD from EMI Cluytens directing...

[vivascargill]

@clytemnestre1 Yes thank you I now own it!!!

[vivascargill]

these comments puzzle me--the technical ones I do not understand though I have gad musical training--but don't we all realize what we have here?Will there ever be anything like it again?

[vivascargill]

I don't know what to say--he walks in some talk and then it is like heaven! I have never heard such beautiful sound from a human voice

[AHbassbaritone]

why is it we worry to much about breathing technique.....abdominal, lateral...etc.......look at the begining of the aria...is that chest breathing?

[clytemnestre1]

@AHbassbaritone Do you want to teach Boris Christoff way of singing?

Do you do better? I hope......

Christoff interpretation is NOT transcended till now! Even there are great Boris, but without any theatral and musical interpretation...

[bodiloto]

Sublime Christoff Gratie !

[ruffoite]

invaluable post. thank you gabba02

[j72050]

..I have the feeling that Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky and the Russian composers of the 1800s would favor this bass over all others.....

[clytemnestre1]

@j72050 YES . ITS IS PUBLISHED BE EMI too. integral Mussogsky and the five composer too

[vstasov]

A miracle! How did you find such a gem? Thank you so much for preserving this treasure.

[Nemorino11]

E' vecchissima, eppure l'audio è ottimo ! Qualcuno che si intende di audio mi spiega perchè certe registrazioni più recenti fanno schifo ?

[Sirianne59]

Che interpretazione, quest'uomo diventa ciò che interpreta....grandissimo

[thoukout]

Une voix sublime et des expressions extraordinaires ! Boris, tu es le plus grand !

[ceb2633]

Incredible!!! The goose bumps are will never go away.

[RomeoMaestro]

I love him. He is the best Boris of all non-russian singers. Actually - better than most russians. Excepting Petrov and Pirogov.

[theodor28uzunov]

Who is Petrov????Who is Pigorov????

[bassoprofondissimo]

magnificient BORIS!

[boris1281]

He has a very similar approach to the part as Callas - the phrasing and the colour of the timbre care for the perfection of this interpretation.

[xsavovx]

If Maestro Christoff heard this, I think he would've felt very offended(joking). It's known that he definitely wasn't in good terms witch Callas. There's even a story floating around that she offended him very rudely regarding his ethnicity and he "bitchslapped" her, lol.

I doubt that it is 100% true, but there is always some truth to these rumors :)

[ceb2633]

You mean to tell me Callas sang Boris Godounov? Wow, her fans give her even more credit than she was due. Please, boris1281, relieve me of this horrible mental picture of Callas as Boris G. I respect Christoff too much.

[boris1281]

Dont be silly, I mean the operatic part in general, the wway they elaborate the stage character seems equally elaborated, complex and creative whther its Boris, Gilda, Da Silva or Manon Lescaut.

[Imogenn]

Brilliant video, thank you!

[alexandrevlad37]

Cet enregistrement éffectué pour la première chaine de la télévision française date de Mai 1967.

Le titre de l'émission était "Initiation à la musique"(produite par Bernard Gavoty et Marcel Bluwal).

Le chef qui se trouve face à Christoff est J.C Hartmann.

[jkircher314]

Heart-stoppingly beautiful. Thank you so much. Is this from a commercial DVD?

[mtmandave1]

BRAVO! Thank you so much for posting. Please post more if you have it....

[amlirco]

The most immense basso profundo of all times. One of the strongest pillar of the opera art.

[BorisGodunov]

I'm a big Christoff fan, but he was by no means a basso profundo, and his voice was not "immense." By all accounts, his voice was medium-sized.

[amlirco]

Indeed? Remarcable confidence... Congratulations!

[Spiritakis]

As another great Christoff fan, I agree with you. He never had as powerful a voice as many of his colleagues.

But power is not everything. It is not even important in my opinion.

The voice of Boris Christoff possessed the most unique timbre (and the darkest one!) as well as the most immense ability for shade and colour I've ever heard. Such cliches like "velvet tone" or "golden tone" suddenly make sense when one hears him. Not to mention his miracluous psychological insight in all of his parts

[amlirco]

As much as I cannot agree on the statement about BCH's voice power the more I cannot accept a similar one about His basso profoundness. BCH is THE basso profondo. His Genius is in the ability to use the power not at all costs but where it's just (He can be a Tunder but also a Mildest Touch) that, in fact, is the core of your comment's second part (which I totally support).

[Spiritakis]

I don't know about "basso profundo" - it's a term that makes no sense to me.

It is quite true that Boris could produce a real thundering notes when he wanted to, but I don't think this was his usual voice. Which is all the better and add subtle colours one is not likely to find anywhere else. Indeed, many other basses often sound to me just like shouting (no names so there will be no offended)

Anyway, all this doesn't matter at all. Boris Christoff is simply unique and that's that.

[amlirco]

One way or another "basso profondo" is an existing term that evidently attains different meanings depending on the point of view. I might be totally wrong but for me it's not bound to the overall power but to the lower register excellence and depth of the voice (incl. velvetness, subtleness...) even in pp.

And you are right the unutterable cannot be explained.

Thank you for your insightful comments.

[ahmad123987]

true, but he still is my favorite bass, and one of the best of the 20th c

[zehnoffbass]

Its the first recording,1952.

And he is the one and only.

From other universe.

[fernandobicudo]

Fantastic interpretation !

[emotionbelcanto]

Magnificient! Post more and more ...please!

[operaruud]

as a collector of all the recordings of Christoff (more than 30 years now) this magnificant. Since I was 16 I am addicted to his voice. Please add more if possible

[sfkcbf]

Tone, color, expression, sensitivity to the words, drama = magic.

[opera60]

Was it the 2nd or 1st recording of the opera ,he did two Boris Godanov's the 2nd in the 70's I think?

[sorbino9]

At the beginning he whispers in the conductor's ear: "It was good, but not wonderful", probably referring to the feminine word "repetition". Someone says "shall we keep that one", and Christoff replies "no, we'll do it again!" ... just in case anyone was wondering. What he whispers to the bloke sat at the piano we'll never know!

[gvjps123]

What a great artist he was , thanks for posting.

[mornaymariedomini]

The best artist and Boris interpretation of that century and future....

[sorbino9]

Absolutely right!

[dustmondo45]

Magic interpretation...

[stchoukine]

wonderfull!besides a magnific voice his interpretation is a of highest artistic level!