This is the second
of the Unitel opera films to come my
way. In the first, Rossini’s Il Barbiere
di Siviglia (LINK)
I never felt involved in the performance.
In complete contrast, right from the
opening, with its dramatic storm scene
and boat tossed on the sea, I was drawn
into the drama. Of course, with film
effects the boiling seas are utterly
realistic in a way the Met staging by
Elijah Moshinsky (1995 production on
DG DVD 073 092-9) cannot hope to be.
But it is more than the realism of the
storm that drew me. It is the handling
of the crowd, waiting and praying, that
draws first the eye and then the self
into the unfolding sequences of Otello’s
arrival, Esultate (Ch. 3). Then
come Iago’s machinations with Roderigo
(Ch. 4). Vickers flings out the words
with a near-vocal abandon that is viscerally
exciting whilst Domingo, for Levine
in the Met recording, is more controlled
but equally thrilling. When it comes
to the portrayal of Iago the vocal comparisons
are all in favour of Peter Glossop on
this Unitel film. Then at the height
of his powers the British baritone had
a true Verdi voice in colour, legato
and weight. His portrayal of the slimy
Iago grows ever more evil and awe-inspiring
as the opera progresses. You can track
his development from the time of Iago’s
plotting to get Cassio drunk (Chs. 6-8),
via his malevolent Credo (Ch. 12), his
manipulation of Desdemona’s handkerchief
(Ch. 16), to exulting over the collapsed
Otello and spurning him with his foot
(Ch. 29). It is a consummate histrionic
and vocal portrayal and a great strength
to this performance. Well as James Morris
acts on the Met recording, his voice
is just not that of a Verdi baritone.
The success of any
performance of Otello depends on the
singing of the name part. So far as
the vocal demands it makes on the protagonist
are concerned it is unequalled in the
Verdi canon. At the time of this film
Jon Vickers was in his late forties.
He recorded the role under Serafin in
1960 with Tito Gobbi as a formidable
Iago (RCA), a duo I was privileged to
see in the theatre. In that performance,
and in the recording, the top of his
voice was freer, more open and ringing
than here. What he added during the
Salzburg performances that preceded
this recording, and which is well caught
here, is a vocal intensity. This is
manifest from his declaration of love
for Desdemona (Ch. 10), through Otello’s
mental collapse, to his strangling of
Desdemona (Chs. 35-36) and his own suicide
(Ch. 37). The cameras, with an ideal
blend of close-ups, profiles and middle-distance
shots, magnificently handle Otello’s
regal and stately appearance in the
early scenes of the opera, through his
mental deterioration and to his death.
Many camera shots are in an upward direction
giving the impression of a taller man
than I remember in the theatre, but
adding to his stately grandeur and the
impact of his physical and mental collapse.
They trace him as he moves around his
palace. In the final scene, as his shadow
appears at the matrimonial bedroom to
the chords of his stealthy approach,
the effect is mesmerising. These shots
all take full advantage of the sets
that are extensive and palatial in both
senses of the word. The sets in the
Met performance are opulent and realistic.
They are a credit to the designer, but
they cannot match the realism of those
on this film.
Realism is portrayed
in the body language, vocal beauty and
nuance of Mirella Freni’s Desdemona.
By the time of this film she was well
versed in the role from stage performances.
Her portrayal of the loving and adoring
wife in the love duet is particularly
fine with steady legato and elegant
phrasing allied to her appealing acting
and warm and natural body language (Ch.
10). Both she and Vickers hold a steady
line despite some languorous tempi from
Karajan at this point. Freni’s acting
is wholly natural and this can be seen
is as she naively pleads Cassio’s cause
against Otello’s mounting anger (Ch.
16). Here, as in the love duet, Renée
Fleming for Levine is rather tentative,
both vocally and in her body language
towards Otello. It was her first essay
at the role and she cannot, at those
points in particular, match Freni’s
greater understanding. In the great
act 4 scene with Desdemona’s singing
of the Willow Song and following
prayer, Fleming is more comfortable
vocally and histrionically. Freni doesn’t
merely portray Desdemona in that last
scene, she lives the part in her eyes,
face, body and singing. Of particular
note is the manner both sopranos manage
the third salce of each reprise
on a thread of breath while sustaining
the legato line (Ch. 32). Freni’s violent
launching of her farewell to Emilia
is the more convincing of the two, as
is her Ave Maria knelt, as normal,
at her personal altar (Ch. 33). In this
final scene the filming of the Met staging
often has Desdemona’s face in shadow.
Both conductors build the tension in
this final act in particular with the
Met’s staging of Iago’s escape being
better handled.
Levine at the Met is
more true to Verdi than Karajan who,
as in his superb audio La Boheme
(Decca), produces an overwhelming
totality despite occasional vagaries
of tempi. The sound is vivid and well
balanced with no obvious discontinuities
in the dubbing so that the cast look
as though they are singing the words
as well as acting the role. The Met’s
digital sound is warmer and rounder
and also benefits from a better ‘figure
du part’ in the role of Cassio, where
Aldio Bottion for Karajan doesn’t look
particularly soldierly. José
Van Dam, like his Met counterpart, is
imposing in stature and vocally as Lodovico.
This film has few limitations
as a total package of singing, acting,
conducting, staging and sets. The camera
work is discreet and enhances the music
and the drama. As a film of an opera
it is amongst the finest realisations
I have seen and enjoyed. If you prefer
the filming of a staged production then
the realistic opulent sets and costumes
of the Met production have much to commend
them. Twenty years into his portrayal,
Domingo is a formidable Otello, but
the other principals are not his equal
although Renée Fleming will portray
a more relaxed Desdemona than she does
in this her first effort. The trio of
principals in the Unitel film, all well
used to their roles from the Salzburg
staging, and working with Karajan and
his orchestral forces, are hard to beat
in this most vividly dramatic of Verdi’s
operas.
Robert J Farr
Latest
opera releases by Unitel
Chorus of the Deutschen Oper, Berlin 
DEUTSCHE
GRAMMOPHON DVD VIDEO 000440 073 4040 GH [140:00]
