Product Details

• Actors: Kiri te Kanawa, Piero Cappuccilli
• Format: Classical, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Kultur Video
• DVD Release Date: June 28, 2005
• Run Time: 138 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0009GV9C8
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #217,755 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Otello, Verdi’s last tragic opera, was the result of his very successful collaboration with Boito, the librettist who adapted the original Shakespeare play with masterly skill. Otello, a tragic story of love and intrigue, is considered by many to be one of the greatest of all Italian operas. The great singers of the world have always taken part in seasons at the spectacular Arena di Verona. In this recording, Otello is sung by the Russian tenor Vladimir Atlantov, rightly famous for his interpretation of the title role. The role of Desdemona is sung movingly by Kiri Te Kanawa, and the wicked Iago is slyly conceived by leading Italian heroic baritone Piero Cappuccilli. "Vladimir Atlantov, a wild, bold Otello whose thundering voice could have filled twice the space of the Arena." IL TEMPO

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A most believable Otello, May 17, 2009

By 

N. Freidin "Melomane" (Huntington, WV) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Verdi - Otello / Atlantov, Cappuccilli, te Kanawa, Bevacqua, Rafanelli, Pesko, Verona Opera (DVD)

I have only recently succumbed to purchasing operas on DVD. VHS appears to be going down the road of music cassettes - into oblivion. Deciding which recording of Verdi's tragic masterpiece, Otello, to pick was a hard one. There are older performances with Del Monaco and Vickers, and more recent ones, mostly featuring Domingo, great interpreters all whose CD versions I own. So, for the DVD I took a plunge into the unknown and picked Vladimir Atlantov, in a live outdoor performance in the Arena di Verona, in a ca. 1982 production, with Kiri Te Kanawa as Desdemona, and Piero Cappuccilli as Iago. An added gamble because the voices may be lost in the great outdoors, more spectacle than substance, with much of the intimate drama lost. You know, where the elephants outshine the principals in Aida, for example !

Not to worry. The voices are prominent, the orchestra and chorus of the Arena di Veroni (under Zoltan Pesko's direction) clear. Most satisfying is Atlantov's portrayal of the Venetian governor of Cyprus and his downward spiral from a national hero and doting husband to a suicidal maniac, driven by jealousy. Atlantov's performance is a much more complex, more thoughtful, and more subtle interpretation of the tormented man than those offered by Del Monaco, Vickers, and even Domingo. A most believable Otello.

Te Kanawha offers a beautiful voice, and presence, but not great drama. But, then, her role is surpisingly minor considering her importance in the plot ! Cappuccilli plays a wily Iago, insinuating, a fly in Otello's ear, but not the in-your-face evil genius (the Gobbi approach).

The staging is superb, with open spaces, simple sets, a massive chorus, and attractive period-ish costumes, but never in competition with the unfolding drama.

Even if you have other versions of Verdi's Otello, Atlantov's performance should not be missed.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Breath of Fresh Air, January 14, 2009

By 

Jeffrey M. Shabman "opera connisieur" (Wisconsin, USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Verdi - Otello / Atlantov, Cappuccilli, te Kanawa, Bevacqua, Rafanelli, Pesko, Verona Opera (DVD)

I first heard Miss Te Kanawa when she made her unexpected debut at the Metropolitan Opera. In the case of Mr. Atlantov I heard him at the Met in Eugen Onegin with the visiting Bolshoi.
Now to hear them together in the same opera is heavenly and a feeling of a breath of fresh air.

7 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Un muy buen Otello sin Domingo, November 7, 2005

By 

alvar fañez "miocid" (santiago de chile) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Verdi - Otello / Atlantov, Cappuccilli, te Kanawa, Bevacqua, Rafanelli, Pesko, Verona Opera (DVD)

Otello es una ópera cuyo papel protagónico requiere de una voz de tenor con características muy especiales, entre las cuales la potencia del instrumento vocal, el buen manejo de los tonos obscuros de la tessitura y el pathos con que se cante el papel resultan fundamentales. Es por ello que no cualquier tenor ha podido cantar Otello con éxito. Histórica es sin duda la interpretación de Ramón Vinay, con un Exultate que conmociona. Otros grandes sin duda han sido Del Monaco, Vickers y, más recientemente, Plácido Domingo. Sin duda, Atlantov entrega una muy buena versión del personaje, a la altura de los mejores. Especial mención merece la escena final, en la que junto con la maravillosa Kiri Te Kanawa brindan una escena en extremo emocionante. También Cappuccilli entrega un gran Iago, lleno de maldad e hipocresía. La orquesta logra bajo la dirección de Pesko una entrega muy adecuada de la partitura verdiana. No le adjudico las cinco estrellas sólo porque el audio, quizá por tratarse de una presentación al aire libre, no logra ser parejo.