The performance is important but this transfer is a half-step too high in many places, giving the voices a Mickey-Mouse quality.

Sir Thomas Beecham shows time and again what a fine opera conductor he was and this Otello is no exception. The orchestra plays extremely well and the pacing is just about perfect. Ramon Vinay was very near the end of his days singing the eponymous hero. The voice is still solid and while he does make all the high notes they're not sung with the ease or ring he possessed a decade earlier. His interpretation is a little hammy, but rather that than bland mediocrity. He handles the death scene very well; I liked his howl of pain just before he dies.Giuseppe Taddei is a marvelous Iago with his excellent diction and powerful voice. Antonietta Stella sings Desdemona so beautifully you wish the part were even larger than it is. She easily soars over the ensemble in Act Three (done without the huge cut one often hears in performances of this time) and the Act Four Willow Sing and Ave Maria are truly memorable. The supporting cast is also excellent. This was taken from a radio broadcast, but the engineers hadn't figured out how to balance the voices with the orchestra and sometimes the singers sound a little recessed. Nevertheless, any fan of the opera or these singers or Beecham, for that matter, will enjoy this performance very much: it's that good.