This collection is a very fine and highly effective way of marking
the Verdi bicentenary. Magdalen have created a disc of highlights
from
Otello by picking the best bits from a range of recordings:
all the way from 1914 to 1961. Along the way they also showcase an
honour roll of legendary performers. For dedicated Verdians it’s
a compact treat.
The disc peaks early with an astounding account of the love duet.
Ramon Vinay - the finest Otello of them all? - is on fantastic form
in the love duet. The burnished darkness of his tone points up the
Moor's heroic nature and makes his fall all the more tragic. Opposite
him Eleanor Steber sounds as pure as the driven snow but with never
a hint of being a doormat. Her Desdemona is a living, breathing woman,
and this is as rounded a portrayal of the role as you're ever likely
to hear.
The opening storm is given in Karajan's 1960 Vienna recording. The
sound of the orchestra and chorus is still fantastic, and the scene
is crowned by a thrilling entry from Mario del Monaco, though John
Culshaw's effects, including a dubbed-on organ note, whistling wind
and artificially distant crowd noises, now sound very dated. They
also turn to Karajan for the big ensemble that ends Act 3 which, again,
reveals the first-rate quality of its sound - listen to the clarity
of Iago's asides, in particular. That said, Desdemona was never a
role that suited Tebaldi particularly well and she seems under pressure
here. Del Monaco sounds great as he falls into his delirium, though,
and Aldo Protti's malevolence is all the more powerful for being restrained.
Lawrence Tibbett is an equally restrained Iago from the Met in 1939,
but you occasionally get a hint of the demonic side of the character
in his upper register. I reacted against his
Era la notte,
but then I realised that was because he was describing a dream. He
changed his vocal colour entirely when he came "out of character"
and got back into the present, so it is, in fact, a masterly piece
of vocal acting. Finer still in the role is Tito Gobbi. The
opening of the Credo is absolutely thrilling and his vision of death
as "nulla" sends a chill down the spine because it is so indifferent. The
voice in 1950 was at its very freshest, and he is on even finer form
here than he was for the stereo recording with Serafin. We get an
extract from that Serafin recording in the Act 2 quartet. It is notable
chiefly for the extremely moving Desdemona of Leonie Rysanek.
The "living stereo" recording places the voices very well in the stereoscape.
I've never been a huge fan of Jon Vickers' Otello, but he is undoubtedly
finer here than he was in Karajan's - in my view, flawed - 1973 account
for EMI. He manages to sound genuinely vulnerable, wounded even, in
the quartet and he subsequently launches into a thrilling account
of
Ora e per sempre. Serafin's pacing of the whole episode
is masterly too and the Rome players have probably never done anything
better on disc.
Caruso and Ruffo's oath duet is an indispensable historical document,
even if it sounds inescapably raw. It’s particularly notable
for the way Caruso manages to have a dark ring to his voice - sometimes
it even sounds like two baritones, a remarkable thought - while still
managing some thrilling top notes. Every bit as indispensable is Toscanini's
1947 recording, one of the most (justifiably) famous opera recordings
of them all. Vinay sounds fantastic on this too, but most collectors
will already know that from firsthand experience of this recording.
If Nelli's Desdemona is not a match for Steber's then she still manages
to bring out the feeling of the character's wounded modesty. Speaking
of which, what a treat to have Rosa Ponselle's aristocratic Willow
Song; not particularly well acted, perhaps, but who cares when you
have a voice like this? A shame that it omits the second verse, though.
Elizabeth Rethberg's 1940 Ave Maria drew premature applause from the
Met audience, but to me she sounded a little on the shrill side until
her final prayers for "the hour of our death", which are assisted
by marvellously sensitive string sound, shaped skilfully by Ettore
Panizza.
Elsewhere, Giovanni Zenatello makes an extraordinary sound in
Dio,
mi potevi, a true snarl in places, giving as thrilling an
account as you will hear of Otello's lowest ebb. I've never heard
anyone better convey the sense of a wounded animal driven to absolute
desperation. I found Giovanni Martinelli a little clinical in his
account of
Niun mi tema, but the vocal tone is undeniably ripe.
He searches - not especially successfully - for some sensitivity
in the recall of the kiss, but his guttural death splutterings are
a somewhat unfortunate way to end the disc!
As for the re-masterings, they are very successful indeed. In every
case the sound is fresh, clear and untroublesome, and sometimes even
finer than that. Nor is there ever a problem with tape hiss, which
has been cleaned up admirably. The booklet notes give a synopsis,
a rundown of the
Otello discography and brief singer biographies,
though I would have liked to have known more about their reasons for
choosing certain singers for certain moments. Despite this, the disc
is much more than a curiosity: it's a lovingly curated compendium
of some of this work's finest ever interpreters, evidently compiled
and worked on by a team of people who love the opera deeply and care
about its performance history. It's obviously not for beginners, but
it is perfect for those who love the work and know it well. It has
certainly earned a special place on my shelf, and I will be returning
to it again and again.
Simon Thompson
See also review by Robert
Farr
Full tracklist
1. Una vela... Esultate! [6:31]
Mario del Monaco (Otello), Aldo Protti (Iago), Vienna Philharmonic,
Herbert von Karajan, 1961
2. Inaffia l’ugola [3:47]
Lawrence Tibbett (Iago), New York Met, Wilfred Pelletier, 1939
3. Gia nella notte densa
Ramon Vinay (Otello), Eleanor Steber (Desdemona), New York Met, Fausto
Cleva, 1951
4. Vanne... Credo in un dio crudel [4:22]
Tito Gobbi (Iago), Philharmonia, James Robertson, London 1950
5. D’un uom che geme sotto il tuo disegno... Ora e per sempre
[8:19]
Leonie Rysanek (Desdemona), Jon Vickers (Otello), Tito Gobbi (Iago),
Miriam Pirazzini (Emilia), Rome Opera, Tulio Serafin, 1960
6. Era la notte [2:57]
Lawrence Tibbett (Iago), New York Met, Wilfred Pelletier, 1939
7. O Mostruosa colpa... Di pel ciel [4:42]
Enrico Caruso (Otello), Titta Ruffo (Iago), Unnamed orchestra &
conductor, New York 1914
8. Dio ti giocondi, o sposo [9:04]
Herva Nelli (Desdemona), Ramon Vinay (Otello), NBC Symphony Orchestra,
Arturo Toscanini, New York 1947
9. Dio mi potevi scagliar [3:37]
Giovanni Zenatello (Otello), Orchestra conducted by Bruno Reibold,
Camden, New Jersey, 1928
10. A terra, e piangi [9:37]
Mario del Monaco (Otello), Renata Tebaldi (Desdemona), Aldo Protti
(Iago), Vienna Philharmonic, Herbert von Karajan, 1961
11. Willow Song [4:21]
Rosa Ponselle (Desdemona), Orchestra conducted by Rosario Bourdon,
Camden, New Jersey 1924
12. Ave Maria [5:30]
Elisabeth Rethberg (Desdemona), New York Met, Ettore Panizza, 1940
13. Niun mi tema [5:25]
Giovanni Martinelli (Otello), New York Met, 1941
