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Verdi on disc - Otello

21K views 75 replies 24 participants last post by  Op.123 
#1 · (Edited)
This is reckoned to be Verdi's supreme masterpiece. He'd had a long layoff from composing but Boito, who had helped with the rewrite of Simon Boccanegra, presented him with the libretto taken from Shakespeare's play. I'd afraid I find the play rather boring, perhaps due to the way it is performed today. However, Verdi's opera is riveting from the storm that opens to the death scene. The operatic master at the height of his powers.
There are many notable recordings out there. However, many fall short in one way or another. For me the chief character in the drama is Iago (Verdi even thought of calling it Iago), and unless his sinister and evil machinations are foremost as a thread running through, a major point of the opera is lost. The recent version at the ROH even had Iago starting the whole thing off - a great theatrical point.
So what are your favourite versions you would recommend?
 
#2 ·
From my Verdi Challenge too

WINNER


Verdi
Otello
James McCracken, Gwyneth Jones, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Piero de Palma, Anna di Stasio, Florindo Andreolli, Alfredo Giacomonti, Leonardo Monreale, Glynne Thomas
Boys from Upton House School
Girls from Hammersmith County School
Ambrosian Opera Chorus
New Philharmonia Orchestra
John Barbirolli
Warner Classics (1968/1994 Reissue Edition)


Barbirolli signs a top-choice Otello. British fans are totally right. The sound engineering for the special effects, the depth of the NPO and the unbeatable Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau as Jago delights my ears. Plus Gwyneth Jones as Desdemona with a bright and warm voice is very difficult to beat for me. McCracken is fine. Many say he is miscasted but I disagree.
B
2ND


Verdi
Otello
Plácido Domingo, Renata Scotto, Sherrill Milnes, Judith Blegen, Frank Little, Paul Crook, Paul Plishka, Malcolm King, Jean Kraft
Ambrosian Opera Chorus and Boys' Chorus
National Philharmonic Orchestra
James Levine
Sony Classical (1978/2013 Remastered Edition)


It's not only a safe buy: it's a recording to own. Domingo's Otello has grown on me and Milnes gained my respect as Jago. The general orchestral sound is loud and explosive, probably too explosive so the drama stops being there and it becomes a Greek Tragedy in the most caricaturesque sense, but it ends successfully without losing grip. Milnes' Jago is solid, and holds control of the character as the character controls the whole plot against Otello. Scotto's Desdemona is not exactly "delicate" or "refined"- It's quite strong but not too loud. The Love duet in Act I is intense, passional, whether they are stargazing or lying in bed. Orchestrally it's not a success, notably in the solid and decent "Credo in un Dio crudele". And this time I can empathise more with Domingo's Otello as a young, gullible, unwary commander.
B-
3RD


Verdi
Otello
Carlo Cossutta, Margaret Price, Gabriel Bacquier, Petr Dvorský, Jane Berbié, Kurt Moll, Stafford Dean, Kurt Equiluz, Hans Helm
Wiener Sangerknaben
Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor
Wiener Philharmoniker
Georg Solti
Decca (1978/1999 Remastered Edition)


It leaves a long-lasting memory. This WPO plays with little passion but with a very big heart for the dramatic spins and lushful sadness of some pieces. I can notice it. In Acts III and IV the opera comes to its tragic form with the three main performers singing with clear voices and refinement (M. Price's Desdemona over all).
C+
That is my top three. I come to terms that I should avoid any Karajan: the Vienna rec. feels duller than many for me. No one from the main trio satisfies me. The Berlin rec has Vickers as the main problem, while Glossop is too decent. Freni is the one to listen to.

You could check out the recent Riccardo Muti / Chicago Symphony Orchestra release. I listened to it and it's quite good.

I agree with DavidA that Jago is the main character of the drama. It's the first singer I review and the character I empathise the most with, rather than the gullible, foolish Otello and the helpless and innocent Desdemona. "Credo in un Dio Crudele" is an anthem for me, where he portrays his nihilism. I find him a caricature of Atheism done by Boito based on Shakespeare. I am atheist, but I know that the libretto cannot be changed. This is where I disagree with DavidA. I refuse to believe in the drama of the ill-fated couple and prefer Jago to win thanks to his wittiness and lust for vengeance. So in Jago's characterisation, I avoid any Disney-villain mwahaha style and embrace soulful and elegant interpretations as the ones from Sherrill Milnes and above all, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, doing evil like he is singing Lieder. I generally emphathise with villains and antagonists in fiction unless they are very dumb or one-dimensional (e.g. Giorgio Germont, Enrico di Lammermoor, Erik).

So that is my take on an opera that I do not see as dramaticatically complex as La Traviata, Il Trovatore or, Above all, Don Carlo and Aida. But musically, it goes along with those two with the continuous melody and the ends of Act I and Act IV.
 
#9 · (Edited)
I agree with DavidA that Jago is the main character of the drama. It's the first singer I review and the character I empathise the most with, rather than the gullible, foolish Otello and the helpless and innocent Desdemona. "Credo in un Dio Crudele" is an anthem for me, where he portrays his nihilism. I find him a caricature of Atheism done by Boito based on Shakespeare. I am atheist, but I know that the libretto cannot be changed. This is where I disagree with DavidA. I refuse to believe in the drama of the ill-fated couple and prefer Jago to win thanks to his wittiness and lust for vengeance. So in Jago's characterisation, I avoid any Disney-villain mwahaha style and embrace soulful and elegant interpretations as the ones from Sherrill Milnes and above all, Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, doing evil like he is singing Lieder. I generally emphathise with villains and antagonists in fiction unless they are very dumb or one-dimensional (e.g. Giorgio Germont, Enrico di Lammermoor, Erik).

So that is my take on an opera that I do not see as dramaticatically complex as La Traviata, Il Trovatore or, Above all, Don Carlo and Aida. But musically, it goes along with those two with the continuous melody and the ends of Act I and Act IV.
I too find that Iago is the really interesting character in Otello. That isn't to say that he's the most comprehensible; that honor might go to Cassio or Emilia! Iago is probably the most completely evil character in all of opera, which his mustache-twirling "credo" (really just a not-very-credible poetic flourish on the part of Boito) gets nowhere close to explaining. Not much more comprehensible is Otello's gullibility and stunning lack of character judgment, a bad flaw in a supposed noble leader. Then we have Desdemona's basic anonymity and pathetic passivity...

The story seems contrived, in retrospect, solely for the purpose of creating an excuse for Verdi's magnificent score (as it originally provided an excuse for Shakespeare's poetry and for great actors to portray extremes of emotion onstage). But perhaps it was something more to the composer: perhaps the inexplicable motivations of the characters, the fact that they seem like pawns in some diabolical chess game, gave Verdi a chance to express his own deepest view of human nature and human life as fundamentally meaningless and governed totally by malevolent forces that make a mockery of our hopes and ideals - in which case Iago's credo may be Verdi's own. But however we view it, as we submit ourselves to Verdi's music we're willing to accept its reality, and even to feel that we're listening to the composer's masterpiece. Such is the power of opera, if not indeed the very essence of it. If the music is good enough, it can make us accept almost anything!

One thing I have to believe, in order to enjoy this opera, is that Otello really is a noble hero with a tragic flaw. Only his nobility makes his disgraceful downfall anything other than sordid and pathetic, and Verdi, understanding that, has given him the necessary musical stature. Fullfilling that condition requires a voice of heroic quality: a Tamagno, a Melchior, a Del Monaco, a Vickers. Iago, on the other hand, needs above all a great singing actor, who can make the character's mysteriously demonic character subtle and absorbing; he has to seem evil to us, but not to Otello (lest we find our gullible hero even more incredibly obtuse). Desdemona, having nothing interesting in her personality to engage us, needs primarily a lovely, warm, expressive voice capable of projecting in the third act ensemble and giving us a ravishingly beautiful Willow Song and Ave Maria.

For me these conditions have always been best satisfied by the old RCA recording under Serafin, with Jon Vickers in his prime and Tito Gobbi as an ideal Iago. Leonie Rysanek may not have Tebaldi's classic Italian warmth as Desdemona, but she's sympathetic enough in what is the least important of the three principal roles. I like the lack of overdrive in Serafin's conducting, which is always knowing and sensitive and allows the opera to be as noble and humane as it can be.

I've never cared for the distinctly unheroic voice of Domingo as Otello, although he acted the part superbly.
 
#5 ·
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My favorite performance. Surprisingly poor audio quality though for a performance from the 70s recorded for TV broadcast. Not for those who dislike too much audience noise--they burst into applause after Iago's credo, shush or argue with each other, a fun night at La Scala apparently.

I've never heard Domingo sing the role better, live or in studio. I generally prefer him live, but he is really special here--at times in the studio, he can seem overly concerned with how he's sounding, like you can hear him being very deliberate with vocal color and intonation. Here though, he's just singing out magnificently. Freni and Cappuccilli aren't in my very top rank of performers for this role but they're again better than usual here, swept up by the vigor and intensity of Kleiber's conducting.

I've searched in vain for another Kleiber/Domingo performance that matches this one with better sound, but unfortunately the only other two I've been able to find are both deeply flawed as a result of the blatantly ugly vocal stylings of Silvano Carolli as Iago.
 
#6 · (Edited)
My first Verdi opera and still my favourite. I have a few versions so I'll need to go and have a think about which, if any, is a favourite.

Having had a while to reflect I've narrowed it down to three. Vickers with Serafin, McCracken with Barbirolli and Vinay with Toscanini.
 
#33 ·
Toscanini's Otello was my introduction and I've never heard anything better. (Also own Vickers and Domingo) I first heard this 'live' on the Radio as it was originally conceived. Chosen as the one version for the BBC by Julian Budden, the most eloquent student of Verdi's music. And whilst the singers aren't the biggest stars it all came together in this performance, conducted of course by the second Cellist at its La Scala premier. It explodes and then cackles and fisses with energy. I listened to it again recently and was once again knocked sideways.
 
#8 ·
I'm probably the only one who likes this one:

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The conducting is exciting and dramatic, and Studer is a nearly perfect Desdemona. I'm not a Domingo fan by any means, but this strikes me as his best recording of the role. I *am* a Leiferkus fan, and his Iago is superb, but I recognize that his voice is an acquired taste.

Some off-the-beaten-track choices:

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Superb conducting from Kleiber, and great singing from Varady and Cossutta. Cappuccilli is his usual bland self, which is preferable to some of scenery-chewers.

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Yeah, wrong language, but this was a great role for Hopf, and Metternich is a terrific Iago.

And of course, there's this one:

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The sonics are a challenge, of course, but it's hard to imagine a better cast than this.
 
#11 ·
I'm probably the only one who likes this one:

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The conducting is exciting and dramatic, and Studer is a nearly perfect Desdemona. I'm not a Domingo fan by any means, but this strikes me as his best recording of the role. I *am* a Leiferkus fan, and his Iago is superb, but I recognize that his voice is an acquired taste.

Some off-the-beaten-track choices:

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Superb conducting from Kleiber, and great singing from Varady and Cossutta. Cappuccilli is his usual bland self, which is preferable to some of scenery-chewers.

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Yeah, wrong language, but this was a great role for Hopf, and Metternich is a terrific Iago.

And of course, there's this one:

View attachment 98365

The sonics are a challenge, of course, but it's hard to imagine a better cast than this.
I'm a pretty big fan of the Chung recording actually. Leiferkus does sound very slavic for someone named "Iago" but after a few spins, the incongruity abated.

That Kleiber looks very promising, I'll have to hunt that down. I enjoy Cossutta on the Solti and I always appreciate what little of Varady I've heard.

Hard to believe you on Hopf, but I've long resented him for ruining the Karajan Meistersinger. Have you ever heard this one?

Organism Font Adaptation Happy Poster


This is the random German language version I have and like--Ralf is excellent and Schoffler is caught a little closer to his prime than in the Furtwangler. Lovely performance from Konetzni too.
 
#10 · (Edited)
I know this man has been getting a bad rap for the last few years, but I love the imagery in his opera films. I'm not a fan of Domingo, either, but I must say Zeffirelli gets the best out of him. The score is, alas, truncated for the needs of the film.
Still, I like it.

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As for the title role, I'll take Vickers or McCracken, totally unhinged.

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Wish Corelli had recorded it!
 
#12 ·
Hard to believe you on Hopf, but I've long resented him for ruining the Karajan Meistersinger.
He's terrible there. I think that it's always a mistake for a real baritonal heldentenor to sing Walther. Melchior knew this, and never sang the role.

I heard that Preiser recording with Ralf a long time back, and remember liking him, but don't recall much else about the performance.
 
#17 · (Edited)
Speaking of Melchior, his Otello excerpts (recorded in German) are vocally superb, musical and without melodrama.



I think he'd have liked to sing the role at the Met, but it "belonged" to that howling banshee Martinelli.

As for Meistersinger, Melchior could sing Walther's music splendidly - nothing like Hopf! - and recorded some excellent excerpts including the best of all quintets with Friedrich Schorr and Elisabeth Schumann. He said that he didn't pursue the part onstage because it kept him consistently high, and he was more comfortable in the other Wagner parts that exercised his whole vocal range.
 
#13 ·
I have the Levine recording with Domingo and Scotto, as well as the Karajan with Del Monaco and Tebaldi. Of the two I'm not sure which one I like the best, I haven't heard this opera enough to make an opinion on that yet. It's a difficult opera for me, but Verdi is my favorite opera composer and I really like Shakespeare's Othello, so I do look forward to listening more and understanding the music.

I intend to get one more recording, I definitely want Jon Vickers as Otello. I'm slightly leaning toward the Vickers conducted by Karajan which has the added bonus of Mirella Freni. But I don't know yet.
 
#15 · (Edited)
The central character for me is Iago. He is intrinsically evil and consumed by his jealousy that Otello promoted someone (Cassio) above him. Hence his desire to bring down the Moor. There also seems some oblique racism involved. This black man is ruling over us? To cap ut all, Iago is an unbeliever - his atheistic Credo makes that clear - and hence he must be evil. Verdi was, of course, an unbeliever himself but I don't think this is his Credo. It is Boito's (not Shakespeare's) invention, slotted in to emphasise the evil nature of Iago. And of course the master of theatre that Verdi is, he sets it with melodramatic force. Iago's mask falls. We know what he is without doubt. His scheming and nanipulation to destroy come from his black, unbelieving heart.
For me Otello is unhinged beneath a cloak of nobility. He is of course a warrior and a killer. He is also savage and unpredictable. The greatest Otellos will have this. Nothing else can explain the swift passage from adoring love to psychotic murder over a handkerchief!
Desdemona is the innocent - at least in Verdi's version. She is the pure one caught between the scheming villain and her increasingly unhinged husband.
Added to which this is perhaps Verdi's greatest score so we must have a true maestro at the helm.

So where does that leave us?

Versions I have:

Karajan 1 - superbly played and conducted. Tebaldi is the great performance here. Del Monaco is (well) Del Monaco - as subtle as a pile driver but wonderful in the animalistic bits. Culshaw originally hired Bastianini as Iago but he failed to learn his part so Protti was brought in. He had a good voice and gives an adequate performance but one which really fails to sound sinister enough.

Serafin - the young Vickers before he had sung the role on stage. He later added subtleties to it but this is fresh voice
Rysanek - not really her part. She is adequate but not a patch on Tebaldi.
The reason anyone should own this recording is the Iago of Tito Gobbi. As complete as you will ever find. Incomperable!
Serafin was the master of Italian opera but for me does not bring out all the drama. He was getting on in the years when he made this recording and it maybe shows!

Levine - this is a tremendous all-round performance, with the young Domingo, a wonderful Desdemona in Scotto, and a creitable Iago in Milnes. For me Levine brings out the drama and really catches you by the throat.

Karajan 2 - for some unaccountable reason Karajan cuts the score. Minor cuts but irritating nonetheless in a recording. Unfortunately no one dared to stand up to him and tell him to record the whole thing. The conducting and playing is superb, Vickers gives us a psychotically unhinged Otello, Freni a touching Desdemona and Glossop, a superb Iago on stage, is somewhat bluff.

Chung - wild conducting but it convinces. Domingo superb, Studer tremendous, Leiferkus an acquired taste.

Solti with Pavarotti - some fine singing but did the guy have the voice for Otello? Not really. Te Kanawa is a lovely Desdemona but couldn't anyone else be found than the (by then) inadequate Nucci to sing Iago. Solti's conducting strangely tepid.

All of the above versions are enjoyable. A choice is very difficult but all round the Levine, but with a 'must' for Gobbi's Iago.
 
#18 ·
Karajan 2 - for some unaccountable reason Karajan cuts the score. Minor cuts but irritating nonetheless in a recording. Unfortunately no one dared to stand up to him and tell him to record the whole thing. The conducting and playing is superb, Vickers gives us a psychotically unhinged Otello, Freni a touching Desdemona and Glossop, a superb Iago on stage, is somewhat bluff.
I did read somewhere that it has to do with the filming with the same cast.
had to be so and so long for cinema release, just like the Doming Otello film.
 
#23 ·
WHY DIDN'T ANYONE MENTION THE EXISTENCE OF THIS????

I was reading this article that I found, only looking for comments about Wolfgang Windgassen and his forging song issues. The CD is in Spotify and the sound, voices and highlights are incredible. Andromeda is selling it cheaply.
I have one live Otello with del Monaco and Souliotis, that's enough said. :rolleyes:
 
#24 ·
My go to recording remains Vickers/Rysanek/Gobbi;Serafin for most of the reasons enumerated by others, but I don't know if anyone has yet mentioned this DVD from the Met.



Once you get past the ridiculous afro, the intensity of Vickers's performance will grab you by the throat, almost too painful to watch. Scotto's acting can be a little mannered, but she is superb in the final acts and MacNeil a good deal better than I expected.
 
#25 · (Edited)
Otello and Falstaff are operas which, for he, work better than their respective Shakespeare plays. Verdi was at the height of his considerable powers - the greatest opera composer of his day and able to write concise operas with drama packed into each one. This is true music drama for me - something Wagner could not get to. I always think that the plot of Otello is somewhat unbelievable but that goes for the play as well. So it is important that Otello is played as somewhat psychotic rather than just a noble simpleton. Vickers does this best IMO. A terrific performance with Karajan (although HvK for some unaccountable reason makes two minor cuts) with Freni a superb Desdemona. With Serafin the performance us not so mature but the Iago of Gobbi is definitive and must be heard.
 
#26 ·

Verdi
Otello Live recording
Mario del Monaco, Gabriella Tucci, Tito Gobbi, Mariano Caruso, Gabriele de' Julis, Anna di Stasio
NHK Symphony Orchestra & Chorus
Alberto Erede
Andromeda (1959/2009 Remastered Edition)


There are other nights where we can enjoy both Mario del Monaco and Tito Gobbi together, but this looks like the only one in Stereo. The position of the mics is perfect and creates a realistic ambience. My minor complaints are often for the erratic playing of the NHK orchestra and the clapping before the orchestra has ended the acts. The cast is excellent in performance. Monaco is quite better than in Karajan and Tucci serves well in her Desdemona character despite not being top-tier. This couple has been played by singers I like more but in this performance they cannot do better.

Gobbi's Iago is a new height in my experience with this Opera. Diction, interpretation, cleanness and evilness. The "beba beba" scene, drinking with Caruso's Cassio, is unbeatable. He also does well in the RCA studio recording in this scene, because for me, many Iagos have failed and wobbled here.

This is my new reference together with the Levine/Domingo recording that I now own. I played also the Serafin/Vickers recording but Gobbi was a bit burnt and Rysanek was not my taste for Desdemona. This Otello has everything you can ask for in Stereo.
 
#27 · (Edited)
I am no fan of Domingo, so I will just skip a bunch of his performances.

My treasured Otello's are live performances in general.

Del Monaco tends to shout and be insensitive. In the "landmark" studio recording under Karajan, he is stiff as a board (so is Tebaldi). My preferred of his Otello's is a live performance with De Los Angeles/Leonard Warren conducted by Cleva.



Jon Vickers studio recording is ruined by Rysanek's Desdemona (I wonder who decided to cast her in a sweet. affectionate Italian role, when De Los Angeles, Scotto, Moffo, Caballe, Zeani were around?). I agree with Greg that the live one from the Met with Scotto is terrific.

If one can tolerate historical performance, I highly recommend a live broadcast from the MET in 1938 with Martinelli/Rethberg/Tibbett, conducted by Ettore Panizza (mentioned above). This is probably my most favorite Otello. Martinelli is at least as expressive as Vickers, albeit more italiante . Rethberg convinces us why she is considered one of the leading prima donna of her days. Tibbet is strong and sinister. The performance has been remastered and released many times. I got it through the box set "Verdi at the MET: Legendary Performances from The Metropolitan Opera", and was very happy with the restoration. I believe Naxos did a great job too.



Here is a quick sampling from the performance to show how much Martinelli feels the role (voice-over a film of Laurence Olivier):

 
#29 ·
I am no fan of Domingo, so I will just skip a bunch of his performances.

My treasured Otello's are live performances in general.

Del Monaco tends to shout and be insensitive. In the "landmark" studio recording under Karajan, he is stiff as a board (so is Tebaldi). My preferred of his Otello's is a live performance with De Los Angeles/Leonard Warren conducted by Cleva.
I love De Los Angeles' performance in Act IV. I don't have the recording of which you speak but I have the first 15 minutes of Act IV on a compilation and it's my favorite Desdemona
 
#30 ·
There are three artists, Giuseppe di Stefano, Giuseppe Taddei and Joan Sutherland whose portrayals, I would suggest, complement what we hear in complete sets - thought I'd share some ideas here... (Long post with links)

Giuseppe di Stefano: There exists a rehearsal tape from pretty late in his career and it can be a pleasure to hear a native Italian singer, bright-voiced, who sings with verbal acuity and does not treat the archetypal character in a stereotypical way. At times he sounds properly angry, it is an intelligent assumption.
Link:

Vocally, di Stefano is at times unreliable and also apparently underprepared in 1966, according to Gobbi's autobiography, so there are mistakes. His studio recording of the duet with Rosanna Carteri was earlier and happier vocally - his timbre is beautiful here.
Link:

Given the proviso that di Stefano was not by nature an Alvaro, Calaf or Otello, his portrayal might provide a contrast to the relative rigidity of Martinelli, Del Monaco and Vickers and offer more personality than Cossutta and Domingo, even if all are more reliable vocally. "Nium mi tema" on DG is also available which I enjoy for its intensity
Link:

Giuseppe Taddei: While I'm a big fan of Tito Gobbi, I have some reservations about just how demonic he sounds throughout this opera. Giuseppe Taddei with his somewhat plusher baritone and sometimes subtler acting makes more sense to me: we are to believe that Iago is hidden in plain sight, plausibly friendly and trustworthy despite his inner demons. Taddei is fully equal to the part although, unfortunately, his Otello recordings are not consistently well cast. At least in 1972 it is stereo
Link to Taddei in 1972:
"Roderigo, ebben, che pensi?" starts at 6m33, the Credo starts at 32m24

Joan Sutherland: her 1960 recording of the Willow Song is, with Tebaldi, the closest I think we'll get to not just fulfilling the demands of the part but approaching the ideal suggested by Melba's recordings. She combines a bright timbre with superb quality and a forthright personality.
Link to the Willow Song:

Much later, Sutherland's 1981 live recording is highly impressive for greater depth of tone and where she brings a good deal of dramatic smarts and welcome vocal size - I wish she had recorded this in digital sound rather than repeating Traviata or Norma.
Link to 1981:

The part often seems undercast to me, and a lyric soprano with a bright timbre often finds it hard-going e.g. Scotto for all her intelligence. I find Freni's Desdemona bit pallid, and I appreciate Rysanek but she was from a different school altogether.
 
#31 ·
I'm contemplating one of these two sets: I keep going back and forth. They are both right around 14$
The first is Jonas Kaufmann's portrayal on the Pappano set. Because I am a big Kaufmann fan



The second is the production with Sonya Yoncheva as Desdemona. This production has had some very good reviews, and the cover is very visually appealing


What say you?
 
#38 ·
I'm coming to the conclusion that the performance below is my favorite recording overall:

1980 ROH Kleiber, with Domingo, Margaret Price, and Silvano Carroli - the full thing is on YouTube starting below.



Pretty decent stereo sound, apparently recorded from a contemporary BBC radio broadcast. Live staged performance, so there's stage noise, but the audience is pretty unobtrusive--they don't burst into applause after every showpiece or get into noisy arguments unlike the La Scala audience in 1978.

There are multiple sources, apparently--the version I have has slightly fuller, more vivid sound than the source used for this youtube, but also has a lot more tape problems--several 10 to 30 second segments that crackle and distort. I got mine from House of Opera awhile back. It's also available on PremiereOpera Italy, but no idea whether that's the same source as the House of Opera one, the YouTube one, or another altogether.

Domingo is even better here than the 1976 La Scala performance. Kleiber leads a performance that isn't quite as white hot as that La Scala one, but the massive gain in sound quality here versus the La Scala is worth the trade off. I've not heard a Desdemona performance that can touch Price's here, a more vivid and touching one than the one she delivers on the Solti studio recording.

Probably the biggest flaw is Carroli, who is way over the top with the villainy. Not a great Iago performance but at he definitely can't be accused of being boring.
 
#39 ·


I recently acquired the Toscanini with high hopes (having got Falstaff) but I'm somewhat disappointed. Of course, the maestro performed the work under Verdi so this performance has a unique historical importance. But as to the cast, I don't go into raptures about Vinay's Otello as it is rather baritonal and lacks a true cutting top that tenors like Vickers and Domingo have. More seriously from an audio point of view is the fact that it is almost identical in sound to Valdengo's Iago, so it's difficult to hear which of them is actually singing, unless you are following with a libretto. As for Nelli's Desdemona, it is pretty pale in tone, some pretty moments aside. Just compare her with Scotto or Tebaldi. So great conducting with a flawed cast.
 
#40 ·
But as to the cast, I don't go into raptures about Vinay's Otello as it is rather baritonal
You are probably aware that Vinay began (and finished) his career as a baritone. He didn't make the switch to tenor roles until his late 20's, and sang mostly Otello and the lower Wagnerian tenor roles (Siegmund and Tristan). I don't think that he ever sounded much like a tenor, and his sound reminds me of Jonas Kaufman's (or vice versa). One of my favorite Vinay recordings is his Telramund in 1962 at Bayreuth.
 
#46 ·




Though cut, these two Karajan Otellos have won me out, in the second half of my Otello challenge. I'm still enraptuered by the details and climaxes of the studio recording I'm listening to, which I am enjoying more than ever thanks to my Sennheiser HD 599. Against that, the register of the first Salzburg performance, in 1970, offers a clean mono sound with powerful brass anyway. Very enjoyable mono.

The performance is where the tables turn. If Karajan focuses on detail in studio, the Salzburg performance is twice as vibrant, coherent in the slow but loud terms as well. Only in Salzburg the dialogues of Act III remain as interesting as the rest of the climaxes. Both the Otello and Iago are much fresher in the live performance than three years later in studio. I think Freni's Desdemona is superb in both, slightly better live. Glossop's Iago is probably the one with more issues in Studio, but I've grown to like this elegant side of his. Vickers suffers notable vocal problems in studio while in Salzburg he sounds more athletic than the Serafin recording from the 60s.

I thought that I would be able to like the Erede Stereo recording in 1955 better, but in fact, despite the cuts, the Karajan BPO offers the exact same disadvantages: a decent Iago. The rest of the parts are equal or better. Monaco and Tebaldi tie up with Vickers and Freni, and I like Erede's conducting in this Decca effort but the Karajan recording offers much more SQ. More spectacular.

For an edition with a great Iago I could still turn to the Erede Tokyo recording with Titto Gobbi. But I hadn't thought of Otello as such an spectacular orchestral piece until these Karajan performances. You should get this Salzburg performance in Operadepot.
 
#47 ·
I'd like the second Karajan more if it weren't for the cuts. Otello is quite a short opera and there really isn't a wasted note. I just can't understand why Karajan would make such a decision, especially considering he played the opera complete in his earlier Decca recording with Del Monaco and Tebaldi. It's a shame because Vickers is my favourite Otello and Freni one of my favourite Desdemonas.
 
#52 · (Edited)
If I were him I would say... all of this because a lieutenant wasn't promoted, he happened to believe in Satan, his duce happened to be jealous and sexist and his wife turned out to be a submissive catholic?

Why couldn't he ask Joseph Greindl about how to play Hagen and sing Iago the same way? LOL. At least he doesn't have to play the dumb guy like in Rigoletto.

As if the sentences "benchè finga d'amarlo, odio quel Moro." and "Chi può vietar che questa fronte prema col mio tallone?" weren't more interesting than ever to explore.
 
#61 ·
It has been an interesting morning, reading all the different opinions and suggestions, thank you! But what confuses me a little (and not just in this thread, but generally), is why is Domingo not considered as one of the most great Otellos of 20th century? Is there purely vocal issues, the voice type or the character?
Over the years I have listened almost all the recordings of "Otello" (as it is my favorite opera), but even with vocal flaws, Domingo’s Otello is the only one, who is able to move me. He doesn’t shout all the way through (sorry!), but also shows his vulnerability and for some reason that counts a lot more, than a glorious, powerful voice. When I’m listening Vickers or del Monaco, I just don’t empathize or weep for him … Of course, it’s just my opinion or rather my feelings about this portrayal of a character, but it just interests me, why do people always talk about del Monaco, Vickers, Martinelli etc and Domingo is like a second rate singer? I’m sure, someone could explain this phenomenon to me 😊
 
#63 · (Edited)
It has been an interesting morning, reading all the different opinions and suggestions, thank you! But what confuses me a little (and not just in this thread, but generally), is why is Domingo not considered as one of the most great Otellos of 20th century? Is there purely vocal issues, the voice type or the character?
Over the years I have listened almost all the recordings of "Otello" (as it is my favorite opera), but even with vocal flaws, Domingo's Otello is the only one, who is able to move me. He doesn't shout all the way through (sorry!), but also shows his vulnerability and for some reason that counts a lot more, than a glorious, powerful voice. When I'm listening Vickers or del Monaco, I just don't empathize or weep for him … Of course, it's just my opinion or rather my feelings about this portrayal of a character, but it just interests me, why do people always talk about del Monaco, Vickers, Martinelli etc and Domingo is like a second rate singer? I'm sure, someone could explain this phenomenon to me ������
Personally, I think Domingo was a great Otello, despite some vocal deficiencies and I do prefer his Otello to that of Del Monaco, who may have been thrilling but was hardly subtle. The DVD of his Covent Garden performance, with Kiri Te Kanawa as a lovely Desdemona and Sergei Leiferkus as a very interesting Iago is, without doubt, one of the best available, and, were it not for the swingeing cuts in the score, I'd rate the Zeffirelli film version even higher. So I'm at one with you. I too think Domingo was incredibly moving in the role.

That said I don't know how anyone could be unmoved by Vickers, who not only has the power and squillo for moments like Esultate! but can hone his voice down to the gentlest of pianissimi, and he suffers like no other. The DVD of the Zeffirelli Met production (with Renata Scotto no less moving as Desdemona) is almost too harrowing to watch. Of his studio recordings of the opera, I prefer the Serafin, which has Gobbi as an incomparable Iago and the less recommendable Desdemona of Leonie Rysanek.

Between them Vickers and Domingo are the two greatest Otellos of the second half of the twentieth century. Del Monaco, for all his vocal splendour, comes somewhat behind - in my opinion anyway.
 
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