ANOTHER GREAT PERFORMANCE! A MUST! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Vickers was feeling very good the night this performance was given. After he warms up a bit, he gives a towering portrayal of a proud, intelligent man brought down by placing his trust in someone who knows how to manipulate his insecurities. His top responds particularly well with several ringing climaxes. He manages to sustain the top C at "Quella vil cortigiana" most impressively. His love for and then his rage at his wife are frightening in their intensity. The death scene is especially poignant.Zylis-Gara sings a lovely Desdemona. Her last act scene fully justifies her reputation. She and Vickers make their scenes together harrowing experiences. Nurmela is a fine, detailed Iago although the part lies high for him. He suggests Iago's trills even if he doesn't actually sing them. The supporting cast is very good too; a pity we're not told who the singers are. Maazel leads a dramatic performance that sometimes is almost unbearably slow. I have to hand it to Zylis-Gara for being able to sustain his tempi during her last scene.After the first ten minutes or so, the volume level improves considerably. On my copy there was some odd and sudden file corruption on track 12 that dissipated after less than two minutes. It is here that Maazel either cuts most of the ensemble for the children or it's missing from the tape source. Despite some sound issues early on, this is an exciting performance of a great opera.

Maazel sometimes unpredictable is in huge inspiration here and he knows the Orchestre National . Nurmela, who died too early, is an extremely fine and subtle Iago . Vickers in great form and probably inspired by an angelic and paradisiac Zylis Gara (the Desdemona he prefered) .

This "Otello" isn't competitive, considering that a disc-reading error makes Act II unplayable. Also, roughly the first 15 minutes of Act I are restricted into the left channel (one can practically see the tape slewing back and forth across the pinch roller). Too bad, as Lorin Maazel gives a powerful, original interpretation of the score and Jon Vickers demonstrates his unique combination of heroic mettle and poetic sensitivity (albeit with an untoward amount of shouting). Kari Nurmela's burly baritone is capable of many an original, suggestive nuance, perfect for Iago, and Teresa Zylis-Gara is an angelic Desdemona, as ever. This Opera Depot release needs a remastering, as it has too many good elements to simply discard.

I enjoyed Zilis Gara's beautiful Saloma and Nurmala's powerful and unscrupulous Jago. Maazel's conducting is very good (I was never his admirer). Jon Vickers was for me a bit out in 70's, so I wasn't exactly amazed by his singing, however today he would be still great Otello.