Boris Christoff - Gounod - Faust - Le veau d'or

[mrmaroonmonkey]

I really like Boris Christoff. He was an amazing singer. I also wanted to share the link on Georgiy Petrov. This is an unprofessional recording, but you can still hear his amazing technique.

[helloantonio]

Jeez, that was intense!

[Sophiestelle]

He is Mephisto; he don't need pretend!

[dementeur]

е,не че съм българин, но няма такова изпълнение!!!! шапки долу

[youliart]

OoH, COMMON PEOPLE, YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND OF MUSIC...THAT IS ANOTHER DIMENSION...THAT'S A PERFECTION...

[youliart]

...Е МАЛКИ ХОРА, НИЩО НЕ РАЗБИРАТЕ ОТ МУЗИКА...ТА ТОВА Е ДРУГО ИЗМЕРЕНИЕ НЕПОНЯТНО ЗА ВАС...

[nikolaurumov]

Nobody can sing that aria better!

[DimwaDepenga]

@nikolaurumov I think that Chaliapin did it better.

But this is also breathtaking

[operaverdi10]

Le plus grand de tous les temps

[ininacsot]

une des plus belles versions du Faust de Gounod, merci

[mmamaali]

Imperial Bass

[komardjieva]

so expressive!

[Belyaeviste]

pourquoi les meilleurs meurent-ils? Je viens de le découvrir je suis ravie

merci Boris.

[lordofutub]

beautifull voice!!!

[jws1272]

I love how he smiles......ever so briefly......when the chorus is singing between the 2 verses, and then, right back into character. Tremendous voice, too!

[Gabrio321]

Incomparable!.. Boris Christoff c´est Mephistophele...lui-meme!

Voix UNIQUE !

[Beth29252]

Even without makeup and chills, that performance gave me chills. Very powerful vocally, and a riveting stage presence. But for me it was those eyes that made it so good, they alone are enough to give you nightmares especially when he looks evilly directly into the camera at 0:55

[janejones11]

He's amazing !

[oluaprotciv]

Incredible, it reminded me a tale from Théophile Gautier called Deux acteurs pour un rôle.

[LightMare7]

wow, he's not even wearing make up nor costume yet and he is already scary!

[emieszu]

Phenomenal performance! A brilliant artist!

[telephilia]

Too bad we can't see him in full Mephistophelian regalia. He looks here like an evil Wall St. tycoon.

[herminestover]

After listening to this I am certain I am pregnant with ROSEMARY'S BABY.

this is drama without makeup, so overwhelming that ......I mean, HAIL SATAN!

[wanchaan]

on na pas fait mieux et ca fait 50annes que ca dure bravo

[wanchaan]

on na pas fait mieux

[Bolshevikings]

tempt me, Mefisto!

[stmnf]

See also Magomaev: v=gSi21khc_Hw

He is REALLY Mephisto!

[Sedraen]

Boris Christoff is undoubtedly the Chuck Norris of operatic basses.

[OlgaSofia86]

That's not Mephisto... that's Lucifer himself!!! Absolutely brilliant!!!

[Aellla]

He is Mephisto for me

[leouija]

Christoff is God!!!

[Vidaldemonti]

My goodness, that is one of the best performances I seen!

[ilpazzofran]

just can feel fear if the devil is boris christof

[witness124]

I've just sung this five minutes ago. I used up that much air that I almost fainted.

How you do it, Christoff?

[TheCantator]

Crazy eyes)))))

[AnalogPirate]

WHYYYYY SO SERIOUS?!?!

[danrouen76]

superbe timbre. Une des meilleures interprétations que je connaisse. Une parfaite diction. Je ne me lasse pas d'écouter le Grand Boris Christoff

[danrouen76]

superbe timbre. Une des meilleures interprétations que je connaisse. Une parfaite diction. Je ne me lasse pas d'écouter le Grand Boris Christoff

[gomongio]

THe ultimate Mephisto! Better than the others...

[Domisol26]

Quel chanteur, mais aussi quel superbe comédien !

[HockeyPlayer68]

Bravo. Boris was the best, may he rest in peace. Bulgaria should be proud.

[TheOriginalBudweiser]

i have to live a good live..... bacause i WILL meet with him in heaven....

[Domcountertenor]

Il est vraiment mephisto: regardez les yeux et sourire à 56 secondes.

[Domcountertenor]

His smile at 56 gives me the creeps. Wonderful!

[skokondrela77]

невероятен!

[Flyssc1]

excellent, and he has got the right look for mephisto!!

[Wwukan]

Exceptionnel !

[faustosoyo]

Que Histrión!!!!

ya ni hablar de la voz...

verlo en escena debío ser impactante.

[pudercukurs]

Bravo!!!

[kraechr]

Solid voice combined with refine style - what a monument.

[csilovak777]

He is exelent, look at his face ,and he is in a suit,and I steel can belive he is the devil! Thank you

[peterpan0018]

Christoff is the best bass ever

[Miloslav1987]

So proud to be Bulgarian with all that incredible voices that mother Bulgaria gave birth! Just stupendous!

[luasolua]

awesome!

[PippiBG]

Simply incredible...

[phatphace]

Just figured out that he is miming the words to an actual recording... 0:50. Still certainly one of my favourite bassists.

[telephilia]

I would like to see this guy in full Mephistophelian costume and makeup.

[jws1272]

It's all in those sinister EYES!! Plus, Christoff's really getting into it.

[TheAstonishingJosh]

magnificent, simply magnificent

[Blaquieres]

A part Ghiaurov et Chaliapin, qui a su chanter cet air avec autant de réalisme ?

[joeyeff]

Wow! That was awesome!

[Roam665]

Immortal! He isn't just singing Mephistofeles, he turns into him! Had the luck to hear him on stage when just a little kid - you never forget than titanic voice. The records cannot show it to you, but his power was immense.

[danyarivw]

@Roam665 I am the same opinion, the guy THINKS he is Mephisto.

Only Shaliapin was close to the sarcasm of a Mephisto but Christoff voice is much better

[bodiloto]

Sublime

[PJDenton]

Splendide! Tout simplement splendide!

[saintsaens21]

I really prefer Siepi's version I must say.

[MTondeleo]

Christoff took getting used to, first hearing sounded crude, not the accustomed smooth bel canto sound, but now for me greatest basso of all time. To hear him on stage, oh lordy that was a HUGE voice...and the definitive satanic Mephistopheles. If only the greatest bass had sung with the greatest tenor, Björling. Well, I found a recording of Aida with the two in a duet of sorts. Opera heaven!

[RIRRATTO]

Fabuleux, cela rend cette musique intéressante

[IrjaHelena]

mikä ääni - uskomaton!!!!

[CYMBALTHEATRE]

Merveilleux... le Méphisto du siècle... un vrai démon ivre de puissance... avec en prime l'humour.

[blackm0re]

Definitely the best (closely followed by Ghiaurov)!

[Twilightsire]

Tabarnak! En tout cas ÇA c'est un Méphistopheles!

[AlonsoCharles1]

Absolument fabuleux,une musique qui toujours épouse l'oreille,emporte par le rythme,le timbre et bien plus encore ce qui fait le charme de l'opéra,ce charisme formidable d'un Boris Christoff délicieux en Mephisto .

Un moment d'émotion,bravo l'artiste.

[wotansschwert]

OMFG...he IS Mephisto!!!

[shelev55]

Der beste...einzige!!!

Gigi55

[Imogenn]

Wonderful, and he even looks the part with those wonderfully evil eyebrows :)

[mulcibapolycarpe]

Merci, un très émouvant moment

[Copperbat]

Wow. Powerful!

[Intervain]

WOW the best I've seen and heard yet!

[TheAstonishingJosh]

wow, he looks charismatic, sinister, and just better than I figured mephistopheles would look like in Faust. Bravo!

[wotan3000]

wow! he doesnt' even need makeup. he looks absolutely sinister here.

great singer, great voice. so nice to see so much of his footage on youtube now.

ty for posting!

[franimalistic]

Absolutely mesmerizing!!

[zlatinorlov]

ONLY ....... THE BEST!!! NOTHING ELSE

[Pottydzmeia]

Ops, wanted to vote positively, sorry!

[larvael32]

THE BEST MEPHISTO EVER!!!

[MrAnnaMF]

КЛАСС!!!!! БРАВО!!!!!

Люблю!!!!!

[BeniaminoGigli1985]

BRAVOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!Maestro!­!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[GGAADF]

meraviglioso ,

viva Boris Christoff ! ! !

[mkbub]

HOLY CRAP. i think i'm going to have nightmares about his eyes. bloody awesome.

[BASSOSOVIETICO1987]

What a wonderful Bulgarian :D:D:D:D:D

[thoukout]

OH MERCI MERCI ! Je découvre enfin Boris Christoff qui me fait rêver depuis ma plus tendre enfance !

Une voix profonde, puissante et un timbre que j'aime tant... Il devait être prodigieux sur scène...

[ioSonoCallas]

Oui moi aussi je connais la voix de Boris Christoff depuis ma plus tendre enfance, mon oncle avait le coffret du mythique premier enregistrement de Faust du fameux trio De Los Angeles / Gedda / Christoff. Je l'ai vu en récital à Paris au théatre de l'Athénée milieu des années 80, à plus de 70 ans ce qu'il faisait était prodigieux et je n'aurais manqué ça pour rien au monde, un souvenir inoubliable!

[theodor28uzunov]

The magic of bulgarian voices

[manlyman80345]

This proves both his talent with acting as well as singing.

[brebelg]

Sensationnel. L'incarnation même de Mephisto dans le jeu et la voix. Les dons et l'intelligence du diable y sont donnés à sentir. Le frisson. Qui d'autre y est parvenu dont on aurait la trace ?

[Divchyk]

He is amazing, thanks

[gracek703]

Boris Christoffs is the best interpretation of all.

I love it.

[MAannibal]

it is an incredible performance.....his demoniac face is so perfect for this song and is voice is surely the most celebs in the history of basses singer.............if you want to see and hear another famous bass ,you have to search cesare siepi......

[mmesnape]

I'm just learning about opera, appreciating the art that it is. Though not very knowledgeable with the intricacies and techniques involved, I do enjoy Christoff's interpretation of this aria. I look and listen to him and can easily see Mephistopheles. And by the way, his french diction is very good too. You can understand what he is singing, very easily.

[Goethefemme]

He's lip-syncing this from the Angel recording! I know every note of that, and it's the same chorus and orchestra exactly!

This is great.

[philippelouvet]

Quelle interprétation: Une véritable création!

[operaman20]

HE LOOKS LIKE LUCIFER!! SCARY

[MusashiTzu]

ET SATAN CONDUIT LA BAL!

[PifchoBG]

Great! just great

[HristoStefanovDotDE]

In Youtube you can find Le veau d'or in performances of Feodor Chaliapin, Nikolai Ghiaurov, George London, Brin Terfel, Jerome Hines, Koptchak, Delyan Slavov, Lawrence Tibbett, Joel Berglund, Alexei Tikhomirov, Mikhail Svetlov, Ferruccio Furlanetto, Homero Pérez-Miranda, Pompei Harasteanu, Bülent Güneralp, Fedor Gubachev, Alexander Nossikov, Roman Smolyar, Chris Marlow, Samuel Ramey AND NONE OF THEM COME EVEN NEAR TO THE PERFORMANCE OF BORIS CHRISTOFF!

HE IS SIMPLY THE BEST MEPHISTOPHELES!

[mojopum]

u're an idiot, i think maybe you never even sung one note in your life correctly. these are artists not competing, performing.

[radsvid]

And where exactly does he suggest they are competing?

[sprite2k]

U need to hear Cesare Siepe's vesion

[HristoStefanovDotDE]

Yes, It's also very good. But I still prefer Christoff's interpretation.

[xsavovx]

Enough with this retarded comparing of performers, GOD DAMMIT!

Isn't it clear that most people who watch this video prefer/admire Boris Christov's works?

Your comparisons are pointless.

[zafzafellu]

I agree! What's the point? why don't we all concentrate on enjoying ALL interpretations, as opposed to wasting time in pointless comparisons??

[Spiritakis]

@sprite2k

I just have heard Siepi's inexplicably famous rendition. It is rushed and insensitive, making the Devils sound like a perfectly innocuous trickster. WAY below Boris, both as a voice and as an interpretation.

[panskeptic]

@Spiritakis Don't let it fool you. Christoff had a great personality but a small voice. You can hear him on his recordings elbowing aside the other singers to get closer to the mic. Siepi was the greatest basso cantante of the post-Pinza era and no one has approached him since. Christoff had great respect for Siepi; you should too.

[Spiritakis]

@panskeptic

True, Boris did have a small voice - fortunately. Otherwise he could never have had so a fine diction. And here, for once, size really doesn't matter.

I have a great respect for Siepi. But I don't like him all the same. And that statement - '' the greatest basso cantante of the post-Pinza era'' - is just bogus.

[panskeptic]

@Spiritakis Bogus? Who? Ruggero Raimondi with that ugly, dead tone? Sam Ramey, the luckiest comprimario in history? Morris and Burchuladze mooing like a herd of cattle? Ghiaurov was a drammatico. Forget it, for cantante Siepi rules from 1950 till today.

[yiddishtheater]

Boris Christoff is the best !

[set6the6word6afire]

kenny in kenny vs spenny

[CountDiLuna]

Wonderful performance! Thanks for sharing!

[01musicman]

Really fantastic! Great interpretation and the voice of Boris is beautifully resonant here unlike many other basses who cover up or darken their voice too much and therefore they sound as if they have swallowed something.

[gallferi]

Incredible!!!

[alandjiiski]

Best!

[Pottydzmeia]

Невероятен! Incredible!

[melomane57]

Ci lascia a bocca aperta.... che bravo!

[cayealba]

Merveille!!! the best!!! honor a quién lo merece, no habrá otro Méphistophêlès igual nunca mas... Gracias por ésta Joya... This is a masterpiece... Thanks

[Ufelan]

I want to be greatest like him one day. Different, of course, but equally greatest. Equally perfect.

[kalitexnis10]

Between :52 and :60 he transforms into Satan....

[maxhansendk]

Callas is the most overrated soprano in the history of opera!!

Ugly voice, always potatoe in her throat...

[altiburcio]

oh god, samuel ramey better than Christoff???!!! i don't even think ramey is the best of his generation! what's next, Angela Gheorghiu better than Callas?

[raigekimaru]

To answer your question, I much prefer Callas (huge fan!) Anghelina's great too but Callas is unmatched in musicality and is quite frankly irreplacable in all senses of the word.

[ahtenor]

vocal technique....low breathing????...keep your breath low?.....in some of Mario Del Monaco videos..he also used "high breathing"....wonder how is it:....today we have a lot of information about vocal technique...but today singing is far far away of producing this kind of sound....besides of natural gift....must be a willing to "work hard and manhood"

[Chiliarches]

Oh and he's well tailored, too.

I keep coming back to this. He and Tibbett own this aria, so far as YouTube videos go.

[wnwnrt]

He just is THE devil! Look at his eyes, his face! Burning fire! It makes me jump of the chair and my knees shaking! WOW!

[Gerardeus]

Pero Christoff tenía un color para cada papel que se le pusiera, y lo cantaba a la perfección!!! Podia cantar desde la tesitura de Barítono hasta la del Bajo Profundo!. ESO SÍ ES TECNICA Y SU EXCEPCIONAL INTERPRETACION LO CATALOGA COMO EL MEJOR.

[Gerardeus]

Simplemente es el mejor Bajo que ha existido en todos los tiempos, y les diré por qué. El cantante de ópera debe tener una sola coloratura de voz para que así pueda perfeccionar al máximo su voz (con ese color) en todos los aspectos. Como registro, timbre y color.

[bckm54]

I dunno about the whole "A is better than B" thing. Having started out in college singing bass parts (this was my all-time favorite aria), and quitting singing out of disgust at my voice "finding itself" as a high baritone, I can understand some of what is required to do this aria correctly. Even in a suit, alone on a stage, Christoff is VERY convincing. I mean, honetstly, look at his EYEBROWS... :) Anelia, thank you for posting this EXCELLENT video! :)

[AEA1981]

Mukemmel ses, mukemmel aria.

[amlirco]

Fantastic! Diabolic or regal presense, no problem, there's whole spectrum of frames of mind he could interpret with magnificent simplicity and depth. The quintessence of opera artist.

[ProudTaurus]

The best bass ever.  Incredible power and excellence.

[raigekimaru]

i disagree, Samuel Ramey is better but this guy is amazing,

[Operafiend22]

Well, I disagree with you...Ramey's isn't even in the same stratosphere as Christoff. Ramey's a good artist but not legend material.

[Chiliarches]

Won't bother giving raigekimaru a "poor comment" vote because I disagree with him, but...no. Christoff is something quite special. Check his "Song of the Volga Boatmen" if you doubt. A dark, deep, round, perfectly produced voice and dramatic instincts that were just over the top.

[Chiliarches]

...I mean, Ramey's great and all, but it's really as a coloratura bass that he excels. His various "devils" are very fine too, and his timbre has an undeniably majestic quality...but, um, he woofs and wobbles, and always has. Ramey is a great. Christoff is a legend.

[Chiliarches]

raigekimaru's comment is not spam, stop marking it as such.

[raigekimaru]

lol. my bad. I guess I pissed off the Boris Christoff fans!

[raigekimaru]

I guess being approximately a bass-baritone( which could could change as I'm only 16) I'm a little biased. Although I can admit that boris christoff is more quintescentially bass than Ramey

[forpusaymara]

Yes this is a legendary singer: would you sing xith such a technic ? such a voice ? such an interpretation ? would you sing French like that ? Ok he's a russian accent but during the first listening you can understand clearly each word... I know lot of great singers that i cannot understand at all when they sing French... and i'm French

[amlirco]

I would say Slavonic accent not Russian, after all he's Bulgarian but for the rest you're perfectly right, his ability to deliver the words singing are phenomenal: the whole message is out there.

[tioteo63]

Sorry, Bulgarian does not necessarily mean Slav!

[kostet83]

hmm,Bulgarian is a slav language, isn't it?

[tioteo63]

Well, generally speaking - yes but this fact does not necessarily or/and automatically make Slavs of the Bulgarians!! The Austrians and quite a few Swiss speak German which does not make them Germans!

[kostet83]

But it was about accent,wasn't it? Step one/ accent comes from native language. Step 2/ Christoff's native language is Bulgarian. Step 3/ Bulgarian is a language of slavic group. Conclusion/ Christoff has slavic accent unless he has none.

Then again,if Bulgarians aren't slavs,why do they speak a slavic language? Did they speak another before they got this one, or did they not speak at all?

[amlirco]

There's no need to insist so rudely showing off your "perfect" logic that grows to a total impertinence. Bulgarians are so much beyond those kinds of silly insults. Take some philology lessons before playing the witty one.

[umox]

I'm french too and I agree, for a russian he performs admirably, and I hardly detect the accent, I've heard many unable to pronounce half the text correctly, outstanding!

[amlirco]

Not Russian, Bulgarian

[xsavovx]

He's Bulgarian for christssake.

[philippelouvet]

Cher Umox, si tu es français, ne nous ferais-tu pas le plaisir de t'exprimer dans ta langue.

[stephenTGV]

Fantastic. Thank you for posting.

[Holovanov]

The best ever! Absolutely the Greatest!

[alexandrevlad37]

Thank you! Thank you anelia1984 !!! More......