Once heard, the instantly recognizable, bottomless basso profundo of Boris Christoff never can be forgotten. It’s a voice from Middle Earth that can make your spine tingle, as it does in many of the 16 tracks that comprise this disc of what Golden Melodram says is a “Live recording”. Documentation is sparse, though. Track titles, orchestras, conductors, and the years of recording are given–1951 and 1954, when Christoff was still on the sunny side of 40 and in his vocal prime–but nothing else, not even track timings. The sound is acceptable, with relatively little distortion, the huge voice caught in much of its glory.
At almost 80 minutes, there’s room for a wide selection of arias, including such signature roles as Phillip II in Don Carlos (a fine “Ella giammai m’amo”) and of course, Boris Godunov (the Monologue, Clock Scene, and Death Scene). They’re sung in Russian, but the two arias from Borodin’s Prince Igor are sung in an Italian that sounds Russian in Christoff’s delivery. That tends to happen whatever he’s singing, so “Wotan’s Abscheid” from Die Walküre (in German, with an Italian band) comes off sounding as if the Nordic god were bidding farewell to the Kremlin. That performance also lacks the regret and legato that mark the finest versions on disc. Which is not to say Christoff makes everything sound the same: he lightens his voice to make “Vecchia Zimara” from La Bohème affecting, demonstrates his mastery of Verdian line in arias from Macbeth and Simon Boccanegra, and sings Rodolfo’s aria from Bellini’s La Sonnambula stylishly.
And of course, everything Christoff sang came gift-wrapped in a splendidly sonorous voice and a surfeit of emotional power. Such larger-than-life singers cannot be fully contained within the confines of a puny silver disc, but it’s what we have–and, limitations and all, this release is a mandatory purchase for Christoff fans and an advisable one for all lovers of great singing.
