Verdi - Otello / Solti, Domingo, Te Kanawa, Royal Opera Covent Garden
by Brian Large
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Claire Powell, Kiri Te Kanawa, Pl?cido Domingo, Robin Leggate, Sergei LeiferkusDirector: Brian Large
Writer: Arrigo Boito
Writer: William Shakespeare
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: Italian (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo; English (Subtitled)
Format: Classical, Color, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 147 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2001-04-01
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Kultur Video
Movie Reviews of Verdi - Otello / Solti, Domingo, Te Kanawa, Royal Opera Covent Garden
Movie Review: Good, but...
Summary: 3 Stars
As I accumulate a library of Operatic and Ballet performances I am especially attuned to the technical aspects of the recording, such as audio mix, lighting etc. This performance has a less than perfect audio mix. The orchestra is well represented but the singers sound distant. Microphone placement maybe? It is one of the reasons many live performances that are recorded do not sound as good as the film version. The people who put a film together seem to be very good at getting these things right. I have to agree with the reviewer who praised Kiri and panned Placido. His acting is very good but this opera seemed to test his range. But this too may have been related to the mike placement. The lighting was also minimal in many scenes.
Summary of Verdi - Otello / Solti, Domingo, Te Kanawa, Royal Opera Covent Garden
For those who want a home video that preserves the kind of treatment Verdi's Otello gets in a first-class international opera house, this Solti-Domingo-Te Kanawa production from Covent Garden looks like the best bet. Neither Georg Solti's conducting nor Elijah Moshinsky's stage direction pulls any punches; this is presented clearly and forcefully as a drama of jealousy (Iago's and Otello's) destroying innocence (Otello's and Desdemona's), in which a military man from a primitive background is plunged into situations and perplexities that his life has not prepared him to handle.What matters most is the casting of the three leading roles. When this production was taped in 1992, Pl?cido Domingo and Kiri Te Kanawa were the Otello and Desdemona of choice, and in this production they show why with effective singing and strong characterization. Sergei Leiferkus is, on the whole, a convincing villain, but not quite on the level of the two stars. The orchestra and chorus are outstanding.
Otello was even more spectacularly represented in a 1986 film also using Domingo in the title role. It was directed by Franco Zeffirelli with more concern for visual and emotional impact than for operatic fidelity and, as such, must be judged as a movie, not as an opera in the traditional format. I would not want to be without that unique vision of Verdi's masterpiece, though his cavalier treatment of the music (most notably his omission of the beloved "Willow Song") has alienated many hard-core opera lovers. --Joe McLellan
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