Customer Reviews

Verdi: Otello

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The premiere of OTELLO was one of the greatest moments in operatic history. Verdi was near the end of his career. Only FALSTAFF succeeded OTELLO and in the eyes of many, OTELLO is Verdi's greatest achievement. Music lovers of the day, who were usually late for performances made an exception and arrived early for OTELLO. The public was so excited at the premiere, riots nearly started on the streets of Milan. The crowds were so enthusiastic about the music, the applause and cheering was deafening, at least according to legend. OTELLO still causes excitement. This adaptation of the Shakespeare play, which tells of pure love as well as the tragedy that results when power and jealousy take control of a person is timeless. When the greatest singers are assembled and have the vocal gifts to bring this great work to life, the results are magical. Three great voices who are legendary in this opera include Mario Del Monaco as Otello, Renata Tebaldi as Desdemona, and Aldo Protti as Jago.

Verdi's OTELLO always tops my list of favorite operas, and Mario Del Monaco and Renata Tebaldi are my Otello and Desdemona of choice. I also enjoy Aldo Protti's Jago. Protti is masterful as the evil Jago. Fans of Tebaldi, Del Monaco, and Protti have a choice of two great recordings of this work: one under the baton of Alberto Erede and the other under Herbert Von Karajan's direction. The Karajan recording dates back to 1961 and is one of the standard bearers of this great work.

Many people looking at this review are probably trying to decide between this recording and the Erede version. Both are among the best recordings of this work. While either would make an excellent choice, there are a few differences. The principals, particularly Del Monaco, are not as clean as in the Erede set, but all three are comfortable in their roles which give the recording a dramatic intensity. In the Karajan set, the orchestra is the trademark full blown sound characteristic of most Karajan sets. For those who love Karajan's sound, this will be an asset. I happen to love the Karajan recordings I have in my collection, especially the OTELLO.

This set includes a full libretto as well as some background information about Verdi and the opera. One thing I found disappointing is that the CD version does not include the ballet music inserted into Act III. While this was added after the premiere, and is not an example of Verdi's greatest music, the LP and cassette versions include it. I grew accustomed to hearing the music, and miss it in the CD version. Even without the ballet music, this is still a superior recording.

With a cast like Del Monaco and Tebaldi and Karajan as conductor you should well expect to listen to the most exciting Otello ever. And You will.

From the opening notes you feel the storm, the craziness in cyprus, with Jon Culshow (producer) making us hear the sounds of the wind and all the other elements. Karajan goes fast and sounds really great.

Then "Esultate". Well be sure that no other tenor EVER have delivered such a powerful phrase. Del Monaco is unique here. His voice shines powerfully at high notes, screws at pianos but acts so good and let you feel his rage on Desdemona.

And about Desdemona...Tebaldi is unequaled. Pianis as much as you'll love to hear. She made the fisrt act final romance entered history delivering the best she has got. Well, on stage, it was said that she had no theatrical presence. But on record, her voice in real tears in the 3rd and 4th act made her desdemona the best on record.

About Protti...Too bad he isn't the 1961 Serafin Gobbi. Ok he is what he is...acceptable.

I have found this CD (only in France, I don't know about other place)in a remastered version of DECCA ROUGE OPERA which is much better that this original one. Try to get it. It is also at a very reasonable price.

So this recording IS great. DEL MONACO must be heared as OTELLO.
All the rest are very good.
Get this recording!

This Otello, starring the stentorian tenor Mario Del Monaco, soprano Renata Tebaldi and baritone Aldo Protti is largely considered the greatest of the post World War II LP Era. It is a very old-school Otello, with emphasis on the grand Italian opera technique and the singers are in top shape and the sound quality is supreme on this digitally remastered recording. Mario Del Monaco makes a fearsome Otello, every bit the proud, roaring "lion of Saint Mark" he is said to be. From his opening exclamation: "Exultate!" to his first slip into jealous madness "Ora Per Sempre Addio" and his confrontations with Desdemonas are all incredibly dramatic and vocally magnificent. For a long period of time, Del Monaco was considered the undisputed finest interpretor of Otello. Jon Vickers and Placido Domingo followed in his footsteps. Del Monaco may be quite, well "hammy" in certain scenes, but he was an incredible actor and his voice, which is the biggest to date, soared above the orchestra and awed audiences worldwide. Though he wore "black paint" he was statuesque and grand in his dramatic gestures. As for Renata Tebaldi, she owned the role of Desdemona, for not even Maria Callas sang it on stage during her own career. This role was entirely her own, and she sang the heck out of it. Lyric enough to appear vulnerable and innocent as Desdemona is, she was also able to project enough bite and dramatic ardor. It's a lush Desdemona, a regal Desdemona, and very few sopranos were able to sing it that way. Her teamwork with Del Monaco was virtuosic. They recorded several big operas on LP- Tosca, Aida, La Forza Del Destino, Mefistofele. As for the baritone Aldo Protti (who ?) he's only serviceable as Iago. This is a shame. With George London around, and Tito Gobbi, it's a shame they cast a singer who does not put any real effort into the part of Iago, which is a pivotal part. His villainous scheming, his greed and the complexities of his character should surface in the singing. And Protti does nothing to impress us. But this is only a slight and trivial mistake. Other great Otellos you might want to check out include Placido Domingo's several Otellos on recording, Jon Vickers Otellos and that of James McKraken. All fine Otellos but in size and volume they do not compare to Del Monaco, the master of grand opera.

The sound on this CD recording is yet to be heard by my ears, so I'm glad to take the word of the other reviewers. If the re-mastering sounds as good as or better than the vinyl recording I've owned for over three decades, then it will be incredible. The opening bars of the storm are overwhelming, and when the chorus prays to the gods of the storm, (Dio fulgor della buffera!) I can practically see those gods in their high heavenly realm, laughing at the worries of mere mortals.
Mario del Monaco has never been one of my favorite tenors, in spite of a voice I swear could initiate a hydrogen fusion explosion, but he's brought out at his best here. No, he is not as vocally resplendent as on the Erede recording, where he bellows virtually every phrase like a male lion in heat, but I count that as a plus. With Karajan at the helm, he throws us nuance and emotion, making those incredible high notes ring out all the more impressively. His Esultate! surely rang out to the gods, making them jealous of its glory. This is a most impressive performance by this iron voiced dramatic tenor, and it's not to be forgotten.
What can be said about Renata Tebaldi? That she possibly had the most gorgeous soprano voice to grace the stage during the twentieth century? Should I mention its sheer power in fortissimos and the soft beauty of her melting pianissimos? How about its warmth and passion? No? Well then, how about the wealth of emotion that she pours out like a cascading waterfall? I don't think I need to go any further. Tebaldi was all those and more and this is one of her finest performances.
Aldo Protti as Iago was an interesting choice for the role. I think Gobbi was still available at the time and maybe Cornell MacNeil, but I don't miss them here. Protti turns in a fine performance, though not as nuanced as I would have wished. Granforte, Milnes, Valdengo, and Gobbi, not to mention Tibbett and the incredible Titta Ruffo, really do have a way of spoiling one for other singers in this role, but Protti does effectively counterbalance del Monaco. He's certainly not a minus on this recording, which is no small praise.
All in all, I find this Otello to be an overwhelming experience, making this grand opera one of the grandest.

Mario Del Monaco attacks the lead role with such intensity that it's hard to imagine another tenor playing Otello. His voice is so clean and powerful that it excites the listener from his opening "Esultate!" to the ending "Nium Mi Tema". A voice like his is needed to cut through Verdi's full orchestration, which under the guidance of Karajan is really great.

Tebaldi is also fantastic, not only because of her awesome voice but because of the way her Desdemona relates to Otello. You really feel the chemistry between the two. "Gia Nella Notte Densa" is one of the incredible duets which proves this point.

Protti's Iago is very straighforward and natural. However, I think a little more color could have been injected into his role.

When all is said and done, I find this recording to be the one I play time and time again.

Otello is one of Verdi's greatest achievements and this is, in my opinion, by far its greatest recording mainly because of the leading singers: Mario Del Monaco and Renata Tebaldi.

Del Monaco was often accused for his too powerful, forte sound. Certainly, his voice did not suit roles like Rodolfo or Pinkerton but he was born to sing Otello! I admire many other tenors in this role, Domingo, Vickers, McCracken to name a few but Del Monaco is more convincing, more dramatic. When I listen to him I say " this is Shakespear's Otello!".Perhaps he lacks Domingo's warmer singing but this role, like no other, needs the Del Monaco treatment.

If one can argue that Del Monaco is the best Otello, the role of Desdemona is a closed matter. Renata Tebaldi enchanted Toscanini back then, when she first sung to him moments from Otello (the Willow song if I remember correctly) and we can all hear why..!As one critic put it "When Tebaldi sings, this opera should be called Desdemona!". The pathos, the sorrow and vocal luxury shall never be equalled!

This is Del Monaco's and Tebaldi's second recording of Otello and they have both deepened their interpretations. The same goes for the less famous but certainly not less memorable Iago of Aldo Protti. He was also on the earlier wonderful mono version under Erede. The Karajan conducting is, as always, powerful and unlike other Verdi-Karajan recordings sublime! (The historical Toscanini-Otello offers, of course, the best conducting ever). The sound quality here is amazingly good. Even much later recordings cannot be compared to this decca gem.

Concluding, this is one of the greatest opera recordings ever, not just a legendary Otello recording and should be in every opera collection!

I'm going to make this short since there are plenty of other reviews about this recording. Vocally, orchestrally, and sound wise-this is the definitive (Studio) recording of Otello, hands down. The only problem I have with this CD transfer is the absence of the ballet which is on the original LP's and which is why I give this 4 stars instead of 5.

I bought this CD set with high expectations, after reading some superlative reviews. I would rate 5 stars for del Monaco, Tebaldi, Protti and Karajan. This was definitely an astounding artistic performance. My problem is with Decca's sound engineering: from the first moment when I played the CD's I found the sound so flat and devoid of harmonics, especially the human voices, like the whole performance had been recorded in an anechoic chamber or recorded from an AM radio broadcast of the sixties. I would be more indulgent if I did not possess other recordings of these artists and from the same period showing vibrant, exciting voices and sound in general. It's true that there is no hiss, crack or cough, the sound is very clean, maybe they exaggerated with the filtering... A custom equalizer boosting the lower frequencies (<1000 Hz) alleviates the situation somehow. Microphone misplacement has to be mentioned too: whole arias sung in one ear, if you use headphones or earphones - the "ultimate" stereophony?? And the very weird way of splitting the tracks during arias.
Conclusion: for a company to get the monopoly of recording such a "cosmic" event, it should be a very heavy responsibility. Maybe in the next issue they will be able to fix some of the shortcomings, if they still have the master recording for the LP...

Great recording all round of Verdi's most profound opera.

Chief singers are great -- I find del Monaco and Domingo the best Otellos.

Sound very good for early 60s.

This is one of the handful of supremely great recordings of Verdi. But its competition is strong too. If you're in the market for a first "Otello" the Serafin with Vickers must have first place. But don't hesitate to buy this one also, as a superb second recording.