ROH - Otello

[Ein Heldenleben]

Saw this last night. An enjoyable and recommendable evening. Christopher Maltman the highlight and centre of attention throughout. A great performance, Verdi would have been pleased.

As others have said, Thomas is up there with the current best in the role but this is not an era of vintage Verdi tenors. Good, not yet great.

I didn't remember much about the production from the first run. It's decent but not revelatory. This makes it a considerable improvement on some recent ROH Verdi.

Will there ever be that tenor era again? I just about caught Pavarotti, Domingo, Carreras , Bergonzi (what a singer ) , and Vickers in their prime. A few years before you has Del Monaco, Cossuta, Di Stefano, Corelli , Bjorling. There’s no one around in that class now really.

[Barbirollians]

A bit harsh - Kaufmann on his day is very fine , Calleja too and di Tommaso is very promising.

[DracoM]

Kaufmann live is a gift from Heaven.

[Darkbloom]

I know that Domingo is criticised as a baritone wearing tenor's clothing but his performance of Otello (IIRC not long before the ROH redevelopment) was thrilling and I've yet to experience its equal.

Although when you hear Domingo sing baritone roles he is clearly a tenor and it's his baritone status that seems the imposture.

[Cockney Sparrow]

Although when you hear Domingo sing baritone roles he is clearly a tenor and it's his baritone status that seems the imposture.

I agree. He did, though, have a stage presence that to some extent compensated - his Germont, for example. However, its unlikely to crop up (at least for London opera goers) as he has cancelled his future commitments.

[gurnemanz]

Will there ever be that tenor era again? I just about caught Pavarotti, Domingo, Carreras , Bergonzi (what a singer ) , and Vickers in their prime. A few years before you has Del Monaco, Cossuta, Di Stefano, Corelli , Bjorling. There’s no one around in that class now really.

For me Kaufmann is a great tenor of this or any era. Which tenor has ever been more successfully versatile in repertoire taken on? I first got to know him with his excellent 2006 R Strauss Lieder disc with Helmut Deutsch. We have seen him half a dozen times at ROH (+ a no show for Don Carlo in 2009), including Otello 2017, Forza 2019, always impressive in voice and stage presence, even when underpowered in the eccentrically staged 2nd Act of Fidelio in 2020, just before the Covid closedown. Superb in the Met Parsifal, which was quite an experience when we watched it live at the cinema. His Lieder interpretations, live and recorded are right up there. We saw him do Winterreise from the ROH stage and Wolf Italienisches Liederbuch at The Barbican with Diana Damrau, both with accompanist, Helmut Deutsch.

[Ein Heldenleben]

For me Kaufmann is a great tenor of this or any era. Which tenor has ever been more successfully versatile in repertoire taken on? I first got to know him with his excellent 2006 R Strauss Lieder disc with Helmut Deutsch. We have seen him half a dozen times at ROH (+ a no show for Don Carlo in 2009), including Otello 2017, Forza 2019, always impressive in voice and stage presence, even when underpowered in the eccentrically staged 2nd Act of Fidelio in 2020, just before the Covid closedown. Superb in the Met Parsifal, which was quite an experience when we watched it live at the cinema. His Lieder interpretations, live and recorded are right up there. We saw him do Winterreise from the ROH stage and Wolf Italienisches Liederbuch at The Barbican with Diana Damrau, both with accompanist, Helmut Deutsch.

Yes a great singer . But not really a spinto tenor in the mould of Corelli or Pavarotti. I’ve heard him several times live . You can just see the technique and careful preparation working in a way that you couldn’t with Domingo for example (or indeed with Freddie Di Tomasso)

[underthecountertenor]

Yes a great singer . But not really a spinto tenor in the mould of Corelli or Pavarotti. I’ve heard him several times live . You can just see the technique and careful preparation working in a way that you couldn’t with Domingo for example (or indeed with Freddie Di Tomasso)

I entirely agree - for this reason Kaufmann live does little for me, and I certainly don't see him as heaven-sent as DracoM seems to (assuming that his tongue isn't in his cheek). He never seems to let it fly. I doubt I'll ever witness an Otello to match Domingo's (particularly under Kleiber), but both Kunde and, I thought especially, Thomas yesterday were excellent.

The real revelation for me was Maltman's Iago. I have always thought of him as never quite emerging from the shadow of Keenlyside, but mea culpa: I have clearly misjudged him or missed his progress. I'm now tempted to revisit Don Giovanni in the autumn to witness his Leporello.

[DracoM]

Had the privilege to see / hear Kaufman live in the Met 'Parsifal'. Ear- and eye-catching and quite a show.

[duncan]

I entirely agree - for this reason Kaufmann live does little for me, and I certainly don't see him as heaven-sent as DracoM seems to (assuming that his tongue isn't in his cheek). He never seems to let it fly. I doubt I'll ever witness an Otello to match Domingo's (particularly under Kleiber), but both Kunde and, I thought especially, Thomas yesterday were excellent.

The real revelation for me was Maltman's Iago. I have always thought of him as never quite emerging from the shadow of Keenlyside, but mea culpa: I have clearly misjudged him or missed his progress. I'm now tempted to revisit Don Giovanni in the autumn to witness his Leporello.

I'd had a similar view of Maltman up to now so it was great to see him put in such a terrific performance. Hopefully many more like this in the future.

On the subject of Spinto tenors, SeokJong Baek was excellent as Turiddu - replacing Kaufmann - in the recent ROH Cavalleria rusticana. He's doesn't have a big stage presence yet but the voice is very promising.

[Cockney Sparrow]

I'd had a similar view of Maltman up to now so it was great to see him put in such a terrific performance. Hopefully many more like this in the future.

On the subject of Spinto tenors, SeokJong Baek was excellent as Turiddu - replacing Kaufmann - in the recent ROH Cavalleria rusticana. He's doesn't have a big stage presence yet but the voice is very promising.

I very much agree as to Baek. Having heard him in Samson et Delila, I looked forward to the Cav. I had tickets for and was not disappointed.

[underthecountertenor]

I very much agree as to Baek. Having heard him in Samson et Delila, I looked forward to the Cav. I had tickets for and was not disappointed.

Yes, he was really excellent in Samson et Dalila. As for Cav and Pag, let's just say that I really didn't miss the fabled Kaufmann in either of them. Alagna's voice may have lost a lot of its youthful bloom, but he put in an heroic performance in Pag.

[Ein Heldenleben]

Yes, he was really excellent in Samson et Dalila. As for Cav and Pag, let's just say that I really didn't miss the fabled Kaufmann in either of them. Alagna's voice may have lost a lot of its youthful bloom, but he put in an heroic performance in Pag.

Yes Alagna is having a bit of a golden sunset in his career and I don’t mean that disparagingly. He also has a more larger than life stage presence than JK which really matters in Verismo.