The Erede, Tebaldi, Del Monaco recording is by far the best commercial recording available. Both leads are superb and even Protti is a lot better than people give him credit for; strong voiced and well-characterised just not as inimitable as Gobbi or Granforte. For other live options you have Del Monaco, Tebaldi, Warren live at the Met, 1955, Del Monaco, Tucci, Gobbi live in Tokyo, 1959, and Del Monaco, Carteri and Capecchi on video. Vickers is interesting but not ideal. If you are okay with historical sound Martinelli, Rethberg and Tibbett under Panizza, 1938, is a thoroughly involving experience.

 

My favourite is Serafin with the superb pairing of Vickers and Gobbi. I'm not sure what Op.123 means by Vickers being "interesting but not ideal". He sounds Ideal to me. Del Monaco certainly had the right voice for the role, but he could be careless of note values. Serafin's conducting may not be revelatory but it is unobtrusively right. The downside is Rysanek's Desdemona, the wrong voice and singer for the role. They should have cast De Los Angeles, who sang Desdemona to Del Monaco's Otello at the Met.

Next I would go for the one you already have, Domingo, who, whilst not really having the right voice for the role, was nonetheless a very effective Otello for ther decades and made three studio recordings with Levine, Maazel and Chung. My personal favourkte is the Levine, mostly because I find Scotto's Desdemona the most touching on record. It is a firrting tribute to the soprano who died only two days ago.

As it happens, there is also a wonderful video of a stage performances at the Met, starring Vickers and Scotto. It might not be very easy to find, but it's definitely worth seeking out.

 

Classics Today re-posted this review yesterday as a fitting tribuite to Mme Scotto.

Verdi: Otello, MET, '78/Vickers, Scotto - Classics Today

 

I have always been most partial to the VPO Solti on Decca, wonderfully theatrical and exciting. Margaret Price is a dream Desdemona, Carlo Cossutta a powerful yet affecting Otello with a real Italianite clarity of tone, and Bacquier a fascinating portrait of Iago. The rest of the cast is also superb, as is the Vienna Philharmonic. Superbly recorded too.

 

This version is hardly ever mentioned but it's terrific.

 

My final decisions for Verdi's Otello in my collection are: Domingo/Scotto/Milnes/Levine, and Vickers/Rysanek/Gobbi/Serafin. Thank you to all who helped me out.

 

Domingo/Scotto/Milnes/Levine
Vickers/Rysanek/Gobbi/Serafin
del Monaco / Tebaldi / Karajan
Vickers / Freni / Karajan - but be warned some genius allowed HvonK to make cuts. Lunacy!

 

All of Martinelli's broadcasts are superb. There are two with the star trio of Martinelli, Tibbett and Rethberg. Both are magnificent.

 

BE WARNED! Although the 1940 performance is in better sound, the 1938 broadcast is unquestionably the greater. The three principals are simply in better voice, and Panizza sounds more committed. Go for the Naxos transfer.

 

I used to have on LP a recording from the Met with Del Monaco, De Los Angeles and Warren conducted by Cleva. It was an exciting performance, with De Los Angeles a wonderful Desdemona. I do so wish she had been cast on the Serafin studio recording instead of Rysanek.

 

I have a lot of recordings of Otello, probably because none of them are quite perfect. I like most of those previously mentioned (especially the first Solti recording), but one that hasn't been mentioned is the Lombard recording on Forlane. Recorded live in 1991, the cast is veteran - Margaret Price was 50, Giuseppe Giacomini was 51, and Matteo Manuguerra, one of my favorite underrated baritones, was 67 but still in fine voice.

I also have a soft spot for an earlier Solti recording, in German, with Hans Hopf, Claire Watson, and Josef Metternich, as well as another German recording from the 40's with Torsten Ralf in the title role, conducted by Böhm.

I'm not a huge fan of Domingo's Otello, but I do like his last commercial recording with Chung on DG, with Studer and Leiferkus.

 

See here for a comparative discography in Dutch (google translate will help you).

VERDI: OTELLO (geactualiseerd)

VERDI: OTELLO Zo elektriserend als Verdi’s Otello begint feitelijk geen enkele andere opera, maar zo desillusionerend als deze eindigt ook geen ander brok...

musicalifeiten.nl

Conclusion:
Those who are looking for an optimal version in every respect - artistically all-round and as technically perfect as possible - will eventually end up with Chung. But especially C. Kleiber (with angelic vocals by Mirella Freni), Serafin with Vickers and Rysanek, Karajan, Levine, Maazel and Solti (Chicago) and Kleiber are also quite convincing. In the historical recordings, it is the Naxos covering of Toscanini's blistering performance (on which he can also be heard during rehearsals) and of Panizza that one must have heard.

In the video recordings, they are well (best?) off with Levine (DG), Muti, Karajan and Peskó.

 

I think Chung is usually considered the prime recommendation. However, when I did a comprison of Domingo's three commerical recordings of the opera a while ago, I came down in favour of Levine. The sound isn't so good, and in fact rather poor for a recording of that vintage but, though Studer is very good, I preferred Scotto in what is one of her best roles on disc and I also preferred Milnes's more Italianate baritone. Leiferkus is very interesting and an intelligent singer, but I can't get used to the sound of his voice in the music. Domingo has no doubt deepened his interpretation since Levine, but there was a bit more ring to the voice earlier on. As for the conductors I found Levine a bit more dramatic as well as a bit more lyrical, though I still prefer Serafin to both.

What opera are you currently listening to / watching...

 

If I had to pick one recording it would be Serafin's with Vickers, Gobbi, Rysanek.

 

There are over 200 recordings

Here is ralph Moore's survey
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2019/Mar/Verdi_Otello_survey.pdf

and the gramophone recs
Verdi's Otello: a guide to the best recordings

And of course on here
https://www.talkclassical.com/threads/verdi-otello-recommendation.86084/

Many experts consider the 1938 Metropolitan Opera performance of Verdi's "Otello," featuring Elisabeth Rethberg as Desdemona, Giovanni Martinelli as Otello, and Lawrence Tibbett as Iago, conducted by Ettore Panizza, to be the greatest

 

I don't see an enormous difference between any of Martinelli's recordings, or the two with Rethberg. All of them have Tibbett. Rethberg is fresher in the Naxos but the sound is tinny compared to the later broadcast, it is extremely enjoyable nevertheless. The performance with Caniglia, in terrible sound, is worth hearing. Caniglia has so many great aspects. I can't remember what I thought of Roman right now, probably her usual moments of goodness combined with disappointment. The later Rethberg one is available on Immortal Performances that is the one to have (I mean of that performance).

Oddly, I am not sure that there is any disc except Pearl's that has Martinelli's studio recordings of the Otello arias. His scenes with Tibbett are in the new Tibbett box from Marston. Anyone know?