Between 1839 and 1871 (32 years), Verdi produced 26 operas. After Aida in 1871, Verdi went 16 years without one operatic premiere. He wanted Aida to be his last opera. It was a grand swan song to go out on. Many considered him after his retirement to be a bit old-fashioned. Verdi himself was not too keen on the direction that Italian music was headed, and he looked elsewhere during the 1870s for new ideas and aesthetic attitudes. This may well have contributed to his reluctance to write any new works after the Requiem of 1874. But after some minor coaxing and cajoling by those close to him rumors started to fly about a new work. He had always wanted to set Shakespeare's King Lear, but after much rumor and discussion he eventually agreed to collaborate with Boito on Otello.
What they ended up with was a work entirely unlike anything that had ever come out of Italy, and what is really one of the most perfect operas that still has ever been written. The fourth act of Otello being arguably the most perfect act of any opera ever written.
Its popularity still has not surpassed his three middle period masterpieces, Rigoletto, Il Trovatore and La Traviata, but this is hardly surprising considering the tremendous demands that are put on the orchestra and the soloists in the score. Seeing a truly GREAT production of this opera is a very rare thing indeed, as the role of Otello is quite possibly the most demanding tenor role in the whole of the repertoire.
There are some truly fantastic recordings of this magnificent work and selections available on disc with some of the greatest Otello's to have portrayed the role: Francesco Tamagno (originator), Leo Slezac, Jon Vickers, Enrico Caruso, Mario del Monaco, Placido Domingo and others.
I will NOT be reviewing what I would consider THE BEST recording of this opera, but one that I think is very special indeed and an entirely moving and interesting performance.
December 1948 live telecast recording from The Met conducted by Fritz Busch:
Otello - Ramón Vinay
Iago - Leonard Warren
Desdemona - Licia Albanese
Emilia - Martha Lipton
Cassio - John Garris
Roderigo - Thomas Hayward
with the orchestra and chorus of the Metropolitan Opera house.
Iago is without a doubt the real mover and shaker of this story. Warren's beast of a voice, that was said to "fill the house like black smoke" is heard hear in rare form. He may not have been the world's all time greatest Iago, he is probably no Victor Maurel, Antonio Scotti or Lawrence Tibbett dramatically, but he follows each and every musical nuance indicated in Verdi's cherished score to the "T". Half of the drama is taken care of for him by Verdi and Boito's brilliance. While others give more depth and subtlety to this incredibly complex character, he does an admirable job and makes up for it with his thick, miracle of a voice. It is hard for me to be TOO negative on his performance as I am a true admirer of his voice and style, but dramatically the role is just slightly beyond his capabilities and lacks that final level of commitment and honesty in this Shakespearean character.
Licia Albanese, on the other hand, while she may not have had the most beautiful instrument, was the leading singing actress of the Metropolitan Opera between 1940 and 1966 when she ran into some troubles with the new management. Her personal connection to the roles she sang has never been matched except by maybe Maria Callas. Each role she decided to take on truly became a part of her and this shows in roles like Violetta in La Traviata, Cio-Cio San in Madama Butterfly (which she sang over 300 times), Mimi in La Bohème and most certainly here. It is made evident in her resplendant scenes with Otello in the first act. They live out on stage a passionate and (as Verdi intended it) very deeply human love affair, so human that we understand how these powerful emotions can cave in at the slightest quaver. While this libretto cuts most of the depth out of her character by eliminating the first part of the play and her entire backstory, she maintains a character of human complexity and unseen profundity that is entirely heard here in her emotional vocal colouring.
The real star of this disc though has to be the one and only Ramón Vinay. He debuted in 1938 as a baritone and then again debuted in 1943 as a tenor. In 1962 he returned back down to baritone and retired from the stage in 1969 at the age of 68. During his career he made the role of Otello his own (as all the great Otellos have done). On this recording he is in his vocal prime, a year after his most renowned performance of the role under Toscanini in 1947. He is said to have been the only singer to ever have performed both Otello and Iago in this opera. He opens strong with the 'Esultate!', probably the single hardest entry aria for any voice type in the repertoire (hardly a cavatina), and glides through the love duet with ease and caress. His second act with Iago is among the best on record. His gradual breakdown into insane jealousy brings the whole thing off the stage and it comes to life before your very eyes (or ears as the case may be). None of his acting is a pictoral presentation of the character but a living, breathing representation of a human being. As his mind slowly breaks down, so do the vocal colours he uses to communicate. On this recording one can hear him slowly disintegrate until his death in the (phenomenal) last scene. While his act two duet ("Si, pel ciel") with Warren may not be quite up to par with the unmatched, sheer viral energy of the Caruso/Ruffo recording, it's sufficiently effective as a catapult into the downward spiral of act three. His dark and robust tenor is exactly what I look for in an Otello, he may be near unsurpassed as Otello along with the trumpet-like creator of the role, Francesco Tamagno.
Fritz Busch, a very German conductor, leads the Met orchestra through what is really an all-together very Italiante reading of Verdi's Dramma lirico. He succeeds at keeping the dramatic intensity and energy throughout and provides an excellent groundwork for Albanese and Vinay to really make this work come to life. While I tend to like conductors more who lead the singers through their vision of the work at hand, his result is a very effective reading of this remarkable score.
The recording may not be as good all around as some others- Serafin's powerful set with Vickers, Rysanek and Gobbi comes to mind- but it is still an interesting set and the first ever telecast of the opera. While the performance on this disc as a whole doesn't tie up in a nice, tight package, the sheer energy and emotional connection documented in the last scene is worth every penny, and definitely worth a listen.
-Christopher Michael Kelley
