site.btaPhoto Exhibition Pays Tribute to Opera Singer Boris Christoff on His 110th Birth Anniversary

A photo exhibition paying tribute to Bulgarian opera singer Boris Christoff on his 110th birth anniversary was unveiled at the Krasno Selo Municipal Cultural Institute (KSMCI) on Monday evening. The exhibition features 41 photographs capturing the most remarkable roles Christoff performed on world stages and moments from the singer’s artistic journey, as well as family pictures.

The exhibition was initiated by the Culture, Archaeology, and Cultural Heritage Department of Plovdiv Municipality (South Central Bulgaria) and the Bulgarian Cultural Institute in Rome. The curator is photographer Nikola Lautliev.

Speaking at the event, Krasno Selo Municipal Cultural Institute Director Ivelina Kyuchukova recalled that the exposition was arranged in Sofia on August 1 after being on display in Rome for a month and a half. Kyuchukova said that the opera singer had "a very interesting relationship with (KSMCI)". "He used to sing in the Gusla Choir and had a strong relationship with it until the very end. The Gusla Choir still rehearses in our building," she added, pointing to one of the photographs in which the singer is pictured in the company of performers.

During the opening of the exhibition, composer and conductor Plamen Djurov described Christoff as an extraordinary phenomenon in Bulgarian culture.

"A narrow circle of people in Bulgarian society have taken on the responsibility of preserving Boris Christoff’s memory: in Sofia, Plovdiv, Stara Zagora, as well as individuals scattered around the country," Djurov said. He noted that the singer stays alive in people’s memory thanks to the streets that bear his name, his house-turned-museum in Sofia, and the Boris Christoff House of Culture in Plovdiv.

Born in Plovdiv on May 18, 1914, Christoff is widely considered to be one of the greatest basses of the 20th century. On March 12, 1946, he made his operatic debut as Colline in La Boheme at Reggio Calabria, which was met with numerous encores. This was the beginning of a brilliant career that included performances in Milan's La Scala, the Rome Opera, Covent Garden in London, the opera theatres in Naples, Barcelona, Lisbon, Edinburgh, Chicago, Vienna, and Rio de Janeiro, among others. Christoff brought his career to an end with a final concert at the Accademia di Bulgaria in Rome on June 22, 1986. The singer passed away in Rome on June 28, 1993.