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Boris Christoff was born in Plovdiv on May 18, 1914. Educated as a lawyer, he was heard by the King of Bulgaria while singing with the famous Gusla Choir and at the behest of the King in 1942 he was granted a scholarship to study singing. Although not a particularly large man, Christoff's magnetic stage presence and piercing eyes made him always the center of attention on stage, and he exerted command and authority not only over his fellow performers but on the audience as well. His rich, sonorous voice was compact and perfectly focused and, like his physical presence, made its effect in every part of the theatre. Christoff s perfectly controlled Slavic voice was ideally suited to the Russian repertoire, especially the roles particularly associated with Chaliapin. This 11-CD set features Christoff s operatic repertoire with arias by Gounod, Gluck, and Verdi.