BaL 11.02.12 Verdi's Otello

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

9.30 Building a Library: Christopher Cook with a personal recommendation from recordings of Verdi's opera Otello

Available versions

Orchestre, Choeurs et Maîtrise Opéra Royal de Wallonie, Paolo Arrivabeni

Christian Franz, Emily Magee, Valeri Alexejev, Stephan Rügamer, Andreas Schmidt, Kwangchul Youn
Staatskapelle Berlin, Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin, Daniel Barenboim
DVD

McCracken, Jones, Fischer-Dieskau, Ambrosian Opera Chorus, New Philharmonia, Sir John Barbirolli

Ramón Vinay (Otello), Antonietta Stella (Desdemona), Giuseppe Taddei (Iago), Italo Pasini (Cassio), Umberto di Toto (Rodrigo), Giuseppe Modesti (Lodovico), Guerrino Boschetti (Montano), Zaira Negroni (Emilia), José Crea (Un Araldo)
Sir Thomas Beecham

Orchestra e Coro del Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Franco Capuana

Plácido Domingo (Otello), Cheryl Studer (Desdemona), Sergei Leiferkus (Iago), Ramón Vargas (Cassio), Michael Schade (Rodrigo), Ildebrando d' Arcangelo (Lodovico), Giacomo Prestia (Montano), Denyce Graves (Emilia), Philippe Duminy (Un Araldo)
Orchestra & Chorus of Bastille Opera, Myung-Whun Chung

Orchestra and Chorus of the Metropolitan Opera, Fausto Cleva

Simon O’Neill (Otello), Gerald Finley (Iago), Anne Schwanewilms (Desdemona), Allan Clayton (Cassio), Ben Johnson (Roderigo), Alexander Tsymbalyuk (Lodovico), Matthew Rose (Montano), Lukas Jakobski (Herald) & Eufemia Tufano (Emilia)
London Symphony Chorus & London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Colin Davis

English National Opera Orchestra, English National Opera Chorus, Mark Elder
(sung in English)

NHK Symphony Orchestra, Alberto Erede
DVD

Mario del Monaco, Gabriella Tucci, Tito Gobbi & Anna di Stasio
Alberto Erede

Swedish Royal Court Orchestra, Sixten Ehrling
(sung in Swedish)

Dragica Martinis, Ramon Vinay, Paul Schoffler
Wilhelm Furtwängler

Hans Hopf (Otello), Annelies Kupper (Desdemona), Ferdinand Frantz (Iago), Waldemar Kmentt (Cassio), Karl Ostertag (Roderigo), Max Proebstl (Lodovico) & Hetty Plümacher (Emilia)
Bavarian Radio, Eugen Jochum
(sung in German)

Jon Vickers (Otello), Mirella Freni (Desdemona), Peter Glossop (Iago), José van Dam & Stefania Malagú (Emilia), Aldo Bottion (Cassio), José van Dam (Lodovico), Michel Sénéchal (Rodrigo), Mario Macchi (Montano/Un Araldo)
Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan
DVD

Jon Vickers (Otello), Mirella Freni (Desdemona), Peter Glossop (Iago), Ryland Davies (Cassio), Hans Wegmann (Rodrigo), Luigi Roni (Lodovico), Siegfried Rudolf Frese (Montano), Stefania Malagù (Emilia), Victor von Halem (Un Araldo)
Berliner Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan

Mario del Monaco (Otello), Aldo Protti (Iago), Renata Tebaldi (Desdemona), Nello Romanato (Cassio), Athos Cesarini (Rodrigo), Fernando Corena (Lodovico), Tom Krause (Montano), Ana Raquel Satra (Emilia)
Wiener Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan

Carlo Cossutta (Otello), Julia Varady (Desdemona), Piero Cappuccilli (Iago), Benito Maresca (Cassio), Norbert Orth (Rodrigo), Nikolaus Hillebrand (Lodovico), Hans Wilbrink (Montano), Gudrun Wewezow (Emilia)
Orchestra and Chorus of the Bayerische Staatsoper, Carlos Kleiber
Jon Vickers (Otello), Cornell MacNeil (Iago), Renata Scotto (Desdemona), Raymond Gibbs (Cassio), Andrea Velis (Rodrigo), James Morris (Lodovico), Robert Goodloe (Montano), Jean Kraft (Emilia), Arthur Thompson (Un Araldo)
The Metropolitan Opera & Chorus, James Levine
(DVD)

Plácido Domingo (Otello), Sherrill Milnes (Jago), Renata Scotto (Desdemona), Frank Little (Cassio), Paul Crook (Rodrigo), Paul Plishka (Lodovico), Malcolm King (Montano), Jean Kraft (Emilia), Malcolm King (Araldo)
National Philharmonic Orchestra, James Levine
Plácido Domingo (Otello), Renée Fleming (Desdemona), James Morris (Iago), Richard Croft (Cassio), Charles Anthony (Rodrigo), Alexander Anisimov (Lodovico), Jane Bunnell (Emilia), Christopher Schaldenbrand (Un Araldo), Ted Lambrinos (Monatano)
The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus, James Levine
DVD

Plácido Domingo (Otello), Renata Scotto (Desdemona), Sherrill Milnes (Iago), Frank Little (Cassio), Paul Crook (Rodrigo), Paul Plishka (Lodovico), Malcolm King (Montano/Un Araldo), Jean Kraft (Emilia)
National Philharmonic Orchestra, James Levine

Orchestra National Bourdeaux Aquitaine, Slovak Philharmonic Choir, Les Petits Chanteurs de Bordeaux, Alain Lombard

Hanns Nocker, Christa Noack, Vladimír Bauer & Hanna Schmoock
Orchestra and Chorus of The Komische Oper Berlin, Kurt Masur
DVD

Choir and Orchestra of the Vienna State Opera, Zubin Mehta

Aleksandrs Antonenko (Otello), Marina Poplavskaya (Desdemona), Carlos Àlvarez (Iago), Barbara Di Castri (Emilia), Stephen Costello (Cassio)
Wiener Philharmoniker, Riccardo Muti (conductor) & Stephen Langridge (stage director)
DVD/Blu Ray

Placido Domingo (Otello), Barbara Frittoli (Desdemona), Leo Nucci (Iago)
Orchestra and Chorus of Teatro alla Scala, Riccardo Muti
DVD

Komische Oper Berlin, Vaclav Neumann

Elisabeth Rethberg, Giovanni Martinelli, Lawrence Tibbett & Nicola Moscona
Metropolitan Opera, Ettore Panizza

Chorus and Orchestra of the Rome Opera House, Paoletti (Alberto)

Kiri Te Kanawa, Piero Cappuccilli & Vladimir Atlantov
Orchestra & Choir of Arena di Verona, Zoltan Pesko
DVD

Wolfgang Windgassen, Sena Jurinac, Norman Mittelmann
Sinfonieorchester des Süddeutschen Rundfunks, Chor der Wiener Staatsoper, Wiener Sängerknaben, Argeo Quadri
DVD

Ilva Ligabue, Mario del Monaco, Ramón Vina
Dallas Opera, Nicola Rescigno

José Cura (Otello), Krassimira Stoyanova (Desdemona), Lado Ataneli (Iago), Vittorio Grigolo (Cassio), Ketevan Kemoklidze (Emilia), Vicenç Esteve Madrid (Rodrigo), Giorgio Giuseppini (Lodovico), Francisco Santiago (Montano), Roberto Accurso (Un Araldo)
Symphony Orchestra and Chorus of the Gran Teatre del Liceu, Antoni Ros-Marbà
DVD/Blu Ray

La Scala Opera Company Chorus and Orchestra, Milano, Sabajno (Carlo)

Orchestra & Chorus of l'Opéra de Paris, Nello Santi

Naples San Carlo Opera Orchestra, Gabriele Santini

Mario del Monaco (Otello), Ilva Ligabue (Desdemona), Tito Gobbi (Iago), Franco Ricciardi (Cassio), Athos Cesarini (Rodrigo), Enrico Campi (Lodovico), Guido Malfatti (Montano), Laura Zannini (Emilia), Mario Rossetti (Un Araldo)
Orchestra e Coro del Teatro Massimo di Palermo, Nino Sanzogno

RAI Orchestra, Tullio Serafin
DVD

Orchestra e Coro della RAI Milano, Tullio Serafin

Plácido Domingo (Otello), Kiri Te Kanawa (Desdemona), Sergei Leiferkus (Iago), Robin Leggate (Cassio), Ramon Remedios (Rodrigo), Mark Beesley (Lodovico), Roderick Earle (Montano), Claire Powell (Emilia)
The Royal Opera & The Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Georg Solti
DVD

Hans Hopf (Otello), Claire Watson (Desdemona), Josef Metternich (Jago), Richard Holm (Cassio), Kieth Engen (Lodovico), Heiner Horn (Montano) & Gertrude Schretter (Emilia)
Cologne Radio, Sir Georg Solti
(sung in German)

Wiener Philharmoniker, Wiener Staatsoper, Sir Georg Solti

Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Sir Georg Solti

Mario Del Monaco (Otello), Leonard Warren (Jago), Paul Franke (Cassio), James McCracken (Roderigo), Luben Vichey (Lodovico), Osie Hawkins (Montano), Renata Tebaldi (Desdemona) & Martha Lipton (Emilia)
Orchestra & Chorus of the Metropolitan Opera, Fritz Stiedry

NBC Symphony Orchestra, Arturo Toscanini

Orquesta y Coro del Teatro Colón, Antonino Votto

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Please note: I tried to include the casts on all of the above, but the message ended up with over 13,000 characters, well above the 10,000 limit.
There may be duplications too. The information is copied from the Presto website.

[kernelbogey]

I got to know this work, the first opera I came to know well, in the Toscanini recording. If memory serves, this was a previous BaL recommendation, against hefty modern competition.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I'm quite a fan of VPO/Karajan and Barbirolli

[Alf-Prufrock]

"Chorus and Orchestra of the Rome Opera House, Paoletti (Alberto), Upton House School Boys' Choir and Hammersmith County School Girls' Choir, Sir John Barbirolli"

I had not understood that Mr. Paoletti's assumption of this interesting and little-considered role was a major attraction !!

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

"Chorus and Orchestra of the Rome Opera House, Paoletti (Alberto), Upton House School Boys' Choir and Hammersmith County School Girls' Choir, Sir John Barbirolli"

I had not understood that Mr. Paoletti's assumption of this interesting and little-considered role was a major attraction !!

[Richard Tarleton]

I was lucky enough to catch Jon Vickers with Joan Carlye and Kostas Paskalis as a tremendous Iago at the ROH in 1972, cond. Colin Davis. My only recording is Domingo/Scotto/Levine, but I have to say I rarely listen to it because I find the opera so distressing - I find it goes beyond the bounds of normal theatrical tragedy.

[Mahlerei]

The Domingo/Fleming DVD is one of the finest performances of any opera, anywhere, any time. IMO, of course.

[BBMmk2]

I will be able to hear thius BaL. So it would be interesting to find out hwat'sthe reccomended version, for me as I am not all that familiar with this opera.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I am not all that familiar with this opera.

With Falstaff, Verdi at the top of his game, Bbm: and Toscanini brings out the very best of both scores. (The Karajan/VPO mentioned by Alpie coming a very close second.)

As Mahlerei added: IMO, of course.

[BBMmk2]

Well thank you Ferney! I will bear that in mind!! What do people think pof the Decca/Solti set of the complete Verdi?

[Flosshilde]

I've got the Domingo/Scotto/Levine recording (which, coincidentally, I've just recently listened to).

I wonder; if you have one of the recordings discussed in BaL, & it doesn't come out well in the critic's/presenter's review, what would your reaction be? Ignore the critic, or discard your recording & replace it with the recommended one?

[Il Grande Inquisitor]

Well thank you Ferney! I will bear that in mind!! What do people think pof the Decca/Solti set of the complete Verdi?

As in the complete Verdi operas, BBM? He didn't record many - Otello (twice - Cossutta in Vienna and Pavarotti in Chicago, but his DVD with Domingo at Covent Garden is very fine); Aida, Traviata, Ballo, Don Carlo, Rigoletto, Boccanegra and Falstaff.

For those looking for a performance on DVD, Muti's in Salzburg is very good. Aleksandrs Antonenko sings the role of Otello and is scheduled to perform it at Covent Garden this summer. Domingo is always going to be there or thereabouts in any consideration of the opera, but I marginally prefer Mario del Monaco for Karajan.

[Il Grande Inquisitor]

I wonder; if you have one of the recordings discussed in BaL, & it doesn't come out well in the critic's/presenter's review, what would your reaction be? Ignore the critic, or discard your recording & replace it with the recommended one?

Never discard, but frequently hear a performance I'd like to add to the collection (though it's by no means always the one which comes out 'top'...).

[kernelbogey]

With Falstaff, Verdi at the top of his game, Bbm[....]

I'll raise you a Don Carlos, Ferney! (IMO, of course.)