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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
marketing attempt,
This review is from: Verdi - Otello / Pavarotti, Te Kanawa, Nucci, Rolfe-Johnson, Solti (Audio CD)
This is the typical marketing blow of the multinationals to squeeze money out of listeners.Put together stars and "voila' les jeux sont faites". It does not always work that way and this time in fact it did not. This recording finds Pavarotti completely out of place. Otello is not for his delicate strings of lyric tenor,very often the emission must be "di forza" and Pav shows clear limits. The voice also sounds quite "exploited" and ultimately this is a flop. Te Kanawa is a typical Mozart soprano with magnificent voice and technique but her phrasing, in a dramatic opera like Otello, sounds dull and aloof a sort of a luxury Anderson or Ricciarelli. Totally miscast even if the voice is beautiful, think of Tebaldi or Freni and clearly Te Kanawa as Desdemona can go packing fast and furious. Nucci is the only one who is in the right place and he knows what to do. Great performance from this probably last verdian baritone, even if the voice is sort of "small" not a Cappuccilli or Bastianini volume to say. Nevertheless thumbs up for him. Solti conducts the Chicago Symphony the way he knows, drawing magnificent sound and even if his Verdi frequentations were rare and not always great, this is one on the good side of the range, the best remaining, to me, his superb Ballo with Pavarotti, Price and Bruson. In conclusion a half baked, if not less, marketing attempt by Decca. Still if we think that these days the same Decca are trying to push Bocelli in some wretched opera recordings, this Otello at least was done by professionals occasionally miscast.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
** 1/2 Pavarotti took bad advice to leap into Otello without the right voice or the necessary experience,
By Santa Fe Listener (Santa Fe, NM USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)
This review is from: Verdi - Otello / Pavarotti, Te Kanawa, Nucci, Rolfe-Johnson, Solti (Audio CD)
As forgiving as the world was to the great Pavarotti, this Otello was ill-advised on his part. The voice and interpretation are completely off track--having a big lyric tenor still puts you in the category of a lyric tenor, not a heroic one. Pavarotti knew it, and he went through the experience with maximum anxiety. I happened to talk to the overseer of the project from the CSO's side, an he called it the biggest headache (actually, he used a stronger word) in his long career. I eagerly bought this prestige Otello when it first appeared in 1991 and found myself cringing, primarily because of Pavarotti, but Leo Nucci joins Aldo Protti in the roster of bad Iago's who try to bluster their way through a part they cannot actually sing.
Te Kanawa made a specialty of Desdemona, as have many Mozart-Strauss sopranos whose lyric voices are on the strong side. She's not Italianate in style, which didn't seem to bother adoring audiences -- sheer beauty of voice will get you a long way. But for me the memorable Desdemonas have been real Verdi-Puccini singers like Freni, the singer I turn to in this role on records. Te Kanawa and Pavarotti don't walk through their parts like preening stars, but their performances are certainly concert bound; you won't find yourself transported to La Scala on opening night. As for Solti, whose experience in opera was as extensive as Bohm's or Karajan's, I have no argument with his conducting, or wit the superb Chicago Sym. At the time the Gramophone bent over backwards to plead on behalf of Pavarotti as a "sincere and serious musician," asking readers to forget his larger-than-life pop persona. the reviewer claimed that the tenor was in best voice by the time he made tis recording in Carnegie Hall after a nerve-racking Chicago debut. Let's grant all of that, however doubtfully. to my ears he sounds like what he was, an aging superstar tenor who was goaded into undertaking a role he didn't know and put very little effort in, besides hauling out his well-honed (and considerable) professional skills.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Another way to do it...and much is so beautiful,
By
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This review is from: Verdi - Otello / Pavarotti, Te Kanawa, Nucci, Rolfe-Johnson, Solti (Audio CD)
I came late to this recording, having, I now think, paid too much attention to its detractors. Even if Pavarotti's vocal lay-out is fundamentally wrong, he does not come a cropper as poor old Carlo Bergonzi did in his one attempt and I find much which is very musical and moving - especially, of course, the love duet. And key moments like "Abasso le spade!" are pulled off pretty well, because he has so much squillo in the voice.
My bugbear should be Leo Nucci, whose rise to fame I have never understood. Although he was actually quite good when I first heard him live at Covent Garden in the early 80's, the voice quickly deteriorated, but he is much better here than I have heard him elsewhere since: the customary bleat and slide and the weak top are less in evidence than normal and he characterises really intelligently, inflecting the Italian as acutely as usually only a native speaker can. He bellows a bit in the "Credo" and often sounds rocky, but is probably no worse than the rather bluff Aldo Protti in the old Erede and Karajan versions, I think. Both Te Kanawa's lovely Desdemona and Rolfe Johnson's vivid, beautifully sung Cassio are distinct advantages - the latter a huge improvement over the habitual whiners who seem always to be cast in this role, which really needs a virile, military voice, if Cassio is to be a credible rival. Te Kanawa always sang beautifully for Solti and delivers a tender, moving performance, spinning her famous pure tone to very touching effect and soaring wonderfully in the ensemble concluding Act 3. Unfortunately, the Emilia is blowsy and screechy. Solti and the Chicago forces are great. I cannot conceive why people say that the Chicago S.O. could not "do" opera; under Solti's steady yet propulsive beat they play beautifully and the climactic moments really come off because Solti in his latter years became better at avoiding the cheap thrill approach and went more for the slow build. Audience noise at this live performance, a bit of carking and nose-blowing notwithstanding, is minimal and the sound is excellent, with the voices slightly too much to the fore but not annoyingly so. This would never be my first choice "Otello"; there are too many great contending sets waiting in the wings and featuring true Otellos with the requisite baritonal heft, such as Del Monaco, Vinay and Giacomini. Even among live performances I might prefer the 1959 Tokyo recording with Del Monaco, Gobbi and Tucci (see my review), boxy sound and all, on the super bargain Opera d'Oro label. My favourite studio set remains the old Erede on Decca with Del Monaco and Tebaldi, and of course Toscanini with Vinay is indispensable - but as a devotee of both Pavarotti and Te Kanawa, I am still happy to make room on my shelves for this performance.
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