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Boris Christoff

Boris Christoff I learned when I was about eighteen, and opera still do not like, but the IST, the TV of Italian Switzerland, had devoted a lengthy interview, which I had seen without looking, by chance (assuming that these things happen by chance to tell the truth, I highly doubt).
Christoff could not pass unnoticed, even on TV: the voice, but also for its appearance. Not it was physically imposing, he was so tall and strong but otherwise normal: it was something of his own, natural, a character that requires awe. Maybe in private, at home, it was a nice and friendly person: but so, in an official capacity, Christoff seemed like a Tsar, a Grand Inquisitor, a Philip II, or the High Priest of Aida. Sure, the bass voice helps: the bass of the opera, to hear them talk, they all do a little 'awe. But Christoff was a completely different matter, and the rest by listening to his records to see what I mean.
Christoff, Bulgarian by birth, he explained he arrived in Italy a very young, and having studied with the baritone Riccardo Stracciari: a singer of great renown, and a teacher is very attentive but also very demanding, especially in the diction. A very good school, judging by the results: many opera singers are eating their words, but with Christoff si può fare a meno di leggere il libretto, ogni singola parola è scandita (e cantata!) con enorme precisione e chiarezza assoluta. Non aveva una voce bellissima, Christoff: piuttosto aspra, scura, non la voce morbida e fluente di un altro basso altrettanto grande Nicolai Ghiaurov (bulgaro-italiano come lui, e di lui più giovane), ma una voce precisa, potente, intonatissima, personalissima e impressionante.

Parlando di musica, Boris Christoff è stato una presenza fondamentale per me, una delle persone che – suo malgrado – mi hanno indicato la strada giusta da seguire. A un certo punto mi è anche capitato di conoscerlo di persona, gli ho perfino stretto la mano – I was taller than him and he looked a bit 'wrong, as he was accustomed to being the King, the Czar, the High Priest, and therefore to stay one step higher, to look at all top- low.
But, going in order, and specifying the outset that I am not used to bother the great artists (and even normal people), that day in the dressing room I had brought us the people with whom I went to the opera in Parma. My usual behavior was that, at the end of the shows: perhaps even applauded for twenty minutes in a row, but then I went straight home. Even if I had met Carlos Kleiber, Claudio Abbado or, what on earth could I say? An infinite gratitude, yes; but I had already expressed his gratitude with applause, I thought that was enough. Besides, I'm not a musician and as a Christoff my approval of simple listener could easily do without it.

Boris Christoff I heard once: he had already retired for some time, but every now and then granted an exit, and on 8 January 1982 she sang in Parma in Don Carlos by Giuseppe Verdi, one of its roles Tracks: King Philip II of Spain. He was still in good shape, and not everyone. Beside him, Renato Bruson, Ghena Dimitrova, Luigi Roni, Vasile Moldoveanu, Stefania Toczyska; director Günther Neuhold.
At the end of the show, they took me a ride in the dressing room: I was not used to, but they used to. Even in person, seen up close, Christoff was impressive: he seemed to have remained in his character was very friendly but a glance or a shrug of his voice, even in a normal conversation, they were still jump. It occurred to me that if he was a school teacher would get attention and discipline in the class even more agitated, simply raising an eyebrow (and if she had decided to raise his voice ...).
I had all of his albums: Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov, Don Carlos, Simon Boccanegra, A Life for the Tsar, Prince Igor. Besides, they cost little, because in classical music and opera that is the principio opposto a quello che si potrebbe immaginare, e cioè che le incisioni leggendarie costano meno delle altre. E’ così da sempre, perché si crede che le incisioni degli anni ’50 e ’60 e ’70 (prima del digitale) siano peggiori: ma così non è, e gli appassionati lo sanno.
Non è tutto oro quello che luccica, col digitale e col computer si fanno facilmente trucchi meschini (un po’ come capita con photoshop per le immagini), ma soprattutto si impara presto che è l’interpretazione che conta, non il modo in cui la si è registrata. Certo, l’ideale è avere un’esecuzione leggendaria ottimamente registrata: ma se volete ascoltare Enrico Caruso sappiate who passed away in 1921, if you want to hear Toscanini and Furtwaengler, their most recent recordings date from the early '50s, if you want to listen to Maria Callas, his golden years are 1948 to 1958. The best years of Pavarotti, to take one recent example, are those between 1960 and 1980, but should remain as close as possible to 1960, there is the living legend Pavarotti, and are already excellent recordings. Moreover, recently asked Maurizio Pollini what was the best recording of Chopin, and Pollini did not hesitate: Arthur Rubinstein on RCA, 1956.
Of Boris Christoff my Garzantine says " Christoff, Boris (1919-1993) was born Plovdiv, Bulgarian bass naturalized Italian. MasterClasses in Milan with Riccardo Stracciari, premiered in Rome in 1946 with Puccini's La Boheme. Specialist of the Russian repertoire (Mussorgsky: Boris Godunov and Kovancina, "A Life for the Tsar" by Glinka, "Prince Igor" by Borodin), also a great interpreter of the Verdi repertoire (Ernani, Don Carlos, Simon Boccanegra) and music by room. He was intelligent actor, with excellent stage presence. "
Wikipedia says instead that Christoff was born in 1914, adding that he graduated in law and had time to start a career as a magistrate, then abandoned given the great success on stage. His teacher, Richard Stracciari, lo vedeva meglio come baritono, ma Christoff decise subito di essere un basso. Il debutto alla Scala arriva molto presto, 1948-49, con il Boris Godunov. Si può ancora aggiungere che la liturgia cristiano-ortodossa utilizza da sempre voci scure e anche molto profonde, questo è stato il punto di partenza di molto grandi cantanti dell’Est Europa, e anche Boris Christoff (che in Bulgaria iniziò a cantare in un coro) non fa eccezione.
(Le immagini le ho prese in rete, alcune molto tempo fa; non sono riuscito a trovare i link giusti, e me ne dispiace molto, soprattutto per la foto con l'autografo, in costume di Filippo II.)