Although this performance does not include a single Italian in the cast, it nevertheless comes remarkably close to realizing the shared vision of Verdi and Shakespeare. Ramón Vinay is searing in the title role, his baritonal tenor conveying the brutal anguish of the protagonist to thrilling effect. Paul Schöffler brings an understated malevolence to Iago that proves quietly bone-chilling.

Dragica Martinis, as Desdemona, offers a voice of exquisite beauty and poise, investing the role with an innate sense of Italianate style in the phrasing, even if her grasp of the language itself is at times uncertain. In the pit, Wilhelm Furtwängler shapes the score with rhythmic clarity and a keen sense of dramatic pacing.