10 Leva Boris Christov

Boris Christov — born Varlaam Mihailov Christoff in Plovdiv in 1914 — is widely regarded as the finest Bulgarian bass of the twentieth century and one of the great operatic voices of any nationality. His association with the role of Boris Godunov in Mussorgsky's opera became so definitive that he was known to perform all four bass roles in a single production simultaneously, a feat essentially without parallel in the modern operatic repertoire.

This issue was released three years after his death in 2004, part of a broader Bulgarian commemorative program honoring national cultural figures.