Customer Reviews

Rossini - Otello / Ford, Futral, Matteuzzi, D'Arcangelo, Lopera, Shkosa; Parry

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It is not fair to compare Rossini's <Otello> with its libretto by Berio with that of Verdi with its libretto by Boito some 70 years later; and it is certainly not fair to compare it with the original Shakespeare tragedy, given the treatment other literary works have suffered at the hands of even the best librettists. On its own merits, the Rossini work has much to recommend it, even in the unShakespearean Acts I and II and certainly in the very dramatic Act III, in which the original is nearly bettered by the song of a gondolier from without quoting some pessimistic lines from Dante.

Nor will I waste words comparing the new Opera Rara edition (ORC 18) with the older one with Jose Carreras and Frederica von Stade. This newer effort seems to try to let us know what the work might have sounded like back in 1816. The title role is not nearly as effectively drawn dramatically or musically, but Bruce Ford makes his presence felt when he is on stage. The second tenor lead is Rodrigo (Cassio is written out of the script), and here William Matteuzzi has just the style for the high-pitched demands imposed by the composer; but there are moments when I felt he was straining to achieve his effects. The third tenor role (!) is that of Iago, who has very little to do and Juan Jose Lopera is impressive in that little.I have some trouble with Elizabeth Futral's Desdemona, which is (in the words of a "Gramophone" critic) "generally well sung." I find her voice a touch uneven, but such is the subjectivity of reviewing.

The reason for the work being offered on 3 rather than on 2 CDs is that an appendix is added in which we can enjoy the "happy ending" version imposed upon the opera by the Rome censors, who could not tolerate murder on stage and suicides on or off stage. ("Tosca" was a long way off.) Rossini experts will delight in identifying early works drawn upon in both versions but especially in the rewritten final scenes, the most awkward of which is a snatch of Don Basilio's Calumny aria from "Barber of Seville" at the most inappropriate moment.

I had to laugh at Desdemona, threatened with death, exclaiming "What a day!" When she has the same line in the alternate ending, it still sounds lame, to say the least.

The third CD also gives us a typical "entrance aria" that Berio knew would be inappropriate for Desdemona--a point much disputed by future singers of the role--and an example of a female Otello joining Iago in a duet.

The thick booklet that accompanies the CDs is a gold mine of information about this opera and about opera practices of the time. All in all, much recommended to those in search of the rare.

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