VERDI: Otello

OTELLO
Music drama in four acts
Music by Giuseppe VERDI
Libretto by Arrigo Boito (after the play by William Shakespeare)
First production, La Scala (Milan), 1887

Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (London)
Georg Solti, conductor
Placido Domingo, Kiri Te Kanawa, Sergei Leiferkus

Otello demonstrates why Verdi is the king of opera, rising even above Wagner. With a fellow composer (Boito) as his librettist, he managed to turn one of the most hallowed Shakespearian tragedies into a most fascinating music drama. Boito adroitly and skillfully maintained the poetry and the drama of the Bard. Verdi's music, on the other hand, is absolutely first-rate: it's so full of vitality, you'd wish the two-and-a-half hour production were longer.

Since it takes longer to sing anything than merely to say it, Boito omitted the entire first Act in the play and made a striking departure to Shakespeare in the libretto during the second act (when Iago sings his great Credo, he tells the audience that he believes in God- a cruel God). Iago is one of Shakespeare's ugliest creations. When he declares his conscience doesn't bother him because heaven is but an old wives' tale, you want to stab him yourself.

Otello is a tale about deceit, jealousy, and above all, paranoia. Iago, the master manipulator, passed over for a position in the army and livid with envy and rage, contrived to bring Otello down by poisoning his mind, sowing seeds of doubt about his wife's (Desdemona) fidelity to him, driving him to kill her and finally himself.

But I guess, everybody's familiar with the story already. In music terms, Rossini did attempt to stage Otello on the operatic stage, but it is Verdi's take that really hews in more closely to the play.

The choruses are astounding, the opening numbers blow you away, even the ensemble numbers. The orchestra sizzles as well, masterfully woven seamlessly by Solti. I'm not particularly a big fan of Te Kanawa, but she's utterly convincing here as Desdemona. She sang superbly. When she kneeled and prayed the Ave Maria, you know immediately that it portends danger.

I thought Sergei Leiferkus' baritone as the evil Iago required more heft and volume, but he delivered a solid performance. Like a hissing snake, he finally succeeds in poisoning the mind of Otello.

Placido Domingo has always been one of the better operatic tenors. Otello is a difficult and a very heavy role, the character, after all, increasingly becomes paranoid and loses his mind. Aside from shifting mood patterns, the vocal requirements are extremely strenous, considering that Verdi's rich orchestration means the soloists' voices really have to soar above the orchestra.

I thoroughly enjoyed this opera.