Solti leads an exciting, very well-sung performance here, making none of the cuts in the big ensembles other conductors do. Cassilly began a Met broadcast of Otello over a decade later, but withdrew after the first act due to illness. Here he gets to show his considerable prowess in the role. The voice is big and steady with a reliable top that reaches all the way to the C at the " vil cortigiana" line in Act Three. The American tenor sticks to the score, not screaming hysterically when Otello becomes jealous, making his descent into madness more believable. He is especially good in the last act. If his Italian is tinged with an American accent at least one can follow what he is singing because of the clarity of his diction.Taddei is a marvelously malevolent Iago and Tarres a lovely Desdemona. She tends to approach high notes from below, scooping up to pitch, but her last act scena is very beautiful. She doesn't scream when attacked by Otello as the composer asks, but this is a minor fault. The supporting cast is superb. Anne Howells makes something of Emilia, not fading into the background as many Emilias do.The sound is excellent broadcast mono with no glitches that I heard. This is something of a sleeper of a performance. Lovers of the opera, Solti, or any of the singers will enjoy it tremendously; I certainly did!

I was ast this perfortmance. It was to be Mario Del Monaco and Tito Gobbi. It was to be broadcast and they were both ill! In a way I was pleased as I had long been an admirer of Taddei. His acting was wonderful and is still etched in my mind. Cassilly sounds better than most tenors who attempt this role today and could manged most of the notes, but he did struggle in the house for power. I was glad to see him. I have a feeling he did a TV broadcast of Otello for the BBC so he may have been in UK for that.

Nice Otello (for me at least). Tarres has lovely, gentle voice, with floating easy sung tones, quite suitable for Desdemona. Taddei is very convincing as Jago. Cassilly sing sings Otello with beautiful lyric voice, however he is capable to sing even more dramatic "things" in part of Otello (Esultate, duet with Jago, Death,...). His Italian is with american accent and it is funny, but in a way charming. Orchestra and conducting are very good. Singer in small roles are competent.