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Otello
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.
Track List
Act I
1. Una vela!... Una vela!
2. Esultate! L’orgoglio musulmano sepolto è in mar
3. Roderigo, ebben che pensi?
4. Fuoco di gioia!
5. Inaffia l’ugola! Trinca, tracanna
6. Abbasso le spade!
7. Già nella notte densa
2. Esultate! L’orgoglio musulmano sepolto è in mar
3. Roderigo, ebben che pensi?
4. Fuoco di gioia!
5. Inaffia l’ugola! Trinca, tracanna
6. Abbasso le spade!
7. Già nella notte densa
Act II
8. Non ti crucciar
9. Vanne! la tua meta già vedo
10. Ciò m’accora...
11. Dove guardi splendono
12. D’un uom che geme sotto il tuo disdegno
13. Desdemona rea!..
14. Era la notte, Cassio dormia
15. Sì, pel ciel marmoreo giuro!
9. Vanne! la tua meta già vedo
10. Ciò m’accora...
11. Dove guardi splendono
12. D’un uom che geme sotto il tuo disdegno
13. Desdemona rea!..
14. Era la notte, Cassio dormia
15. Sì, pel ciel marmoreo giuro!
Act III
16. La vedetta del porto ha segnalato
17. Dio ti giocondi, o sposo
18. Esterrefatta fisso lo sguardo tuo tremendo
19. Dio! mi potevi scagliar tutti i mali
20. Vieni; l’aula è deserta
21. Evviva il Leon di San Marco!
22. A terra!... sì... nel livido fango..
23. Il mio velen lavora
17. Dio ti giocondi, o sposo
18. Esterrefatta fisso lo sguardo tuo tremendo
19. Dio! mi potevi scagliar tutti i mali
20. Vieni; l’aula è deserta
21. Evviva il Leon di San Marco!
22. A terra!... sì... nel livido fango..
23. Il mio velen lavora
Act IV
24. Era più calmo?
25. Mia madre aveva una povera ancella
26. Ave Maria, piena di grazia
27. Chi è là?... Otello?
28. Calma come la tomba
29. Niun mi tema
25. Mia madre aveva una povera ancella
26. Ave Maria, piena di grazia
27. Chi è là?... Otello?
28. Calma come la tomba
29. Niun mi tema
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5.0
Based on 1 review
✓ Top Reviewer
United States
A Classic Performance in Excellent Sound!
Furtwängler's 1951 Salzburg Festival performances of Otello were already a legend even a year later. The German conductor's command of the score and his expert pacing of it were ecstatically praised in some corners and reviled in others. The tempi are a little bit slower in some places, the overall flow consistent with his more magisterial approach. There is plenty of Italianate chiaroscuro that still allows the singers to make their points. Furtwängler plays the score uncut too.Vinay had been Toscanini's chosen Otello only a few years earlier. Vinay rather went his own way in some respects. He has thoroughly studied the role and now brings some of his own personality to bear on the proceedings. Vocally he is more assured than he was under Toscanini.Martinis is a lovely Desdemona. Her defiance of her husband's mad fury in Act 3 is as admirable as her heartbreaking reaction to Emilia's leaving in Act 4. Schöffler plays a low-keyed Iago, more subtle than others I've heard. Wagner is a powerful Emilia and Dermota a handsome Cassio. Greindl's rather flinty tone is heard to good effect as Lodovico. The sound is excellent, pitched correctly.All Otello fans should hear this performance at least once.
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