Giuseppe Verdi - Otello (Salzburg Festival 2008) [Blu-ray] [2010] [NTSC]

This production seems to be one of those that works better for the camera than it did in the theatre. I did not see this production when it did its run at Salzburg in 2008, but I had read some of the major reviews. A common thread among the critics was that the honours went to Muti and the orchestra, and to the Desdemona (Marina Poplavskaya), but that pretty well most everything else was forgettable!
Just after reading the first online reviews, I got to hear the radio broadcast of the opening night performance, and this left me quite perplexed, as what I was hearing did not seem to line up with what the critics were saying, particularly about the tenor, whom most seemed to find to be underpowered for this role. Yet what I was hearing was a fresh, strong voice giving a very commendable performance (at least aurally).
And so I came to this blu-ray release eagerly looking forward to finding out whether seeing and hearing this performance in blu-ray quality would confirm the impressions that I had from that broadcast.
Well, I am not going to try to find reasons for why I disagree with those critics, and maybe things did come across differently in the theatre, but all I can say is that I find this to be an excellent musical performance all round. I agree that the chief honours have to go to Riccardo Muti and the Vienna Philharmonic. Anybody who knows anything of Muti's work will expect a reading that is disciplined and faithful to the composer's intentions to the letter. And this is precisely what you get here. Everything seems perfectly judged and all of the moods and facets of this wonderful score are brought to the surface, but without anything sounding at all contrived. And the sound engineers can be thanked for faithfully capturing all of this. The DTS Master Audio surround track on this disk is true demonstration quality. Just listen to the way that the orchestra crashes in at the beginning of the opera, and the transparency with which the big choral moments are handled! I also listened to the stereo track, which is also excellent, but I would prefer the surround track unless confined to using headphones.
(One surprise for me was the big concerted passage in Act 3. A few bars into it, I thought that it sounded different from what I was expecting. It turns out that Muti has used the version that Verdi rewrote for the Paris Opera. It is different in many ways, and some of the musical progressions are interesting. Whether it is to be preferred to the original version would be a matter of taste.)
An excellent cast has been assembled. First, the Otello. Antonenko is a tenor that I have not heard in anything else. He seems to be quite a young man (probably mid-30s) and I understand that this was his first Otello. It must have been daunting to step into a role that Placido Domingo has practically owned for the last 30 or so years, and it would be unreasonable to expect all of the nuances that Domingo can now bring to the role. But for me, this guy delivers the goods. He has the right clarion-type voice that this part needs, and he comes through all of the hurdles (including his opening lines) with no problems. He has a bit of an Italianate sob in the voice, which would probably be more appropriate to Puccini, but he uses it effectively. He looks the part, and acts well (though there are the odd moments where he does not seem to be too sure what to do with himself). His sudden outbursts are very well done, and when he first rounds on Desdemona in Act 2, I almost jumped out of my seat! (I hope that the Salzburg critics have not done too much damage to his reputation, and that we will hear more of him, as we need a few good Otellos, and he certainly qualifies.)
For the Desdemona (Poplavskaya) I have nothing but praise. We are in much need of a lyric-spinto soprano to take on the big Verdi parts, and she could be what we have been waiting for. Whether she can do parts like Aida and Forza will remain to be seen, but Desdemona fits her voice and persona like a glove. She looks and moves well, and her expressive eyes and face allow us to see all of the perplexity and trauma that this character is going through. (She actually looks her best when filmed from an angle rather than from front on, as she has a rather square jaw - rather like Joan Sutherland's - and it would be interesting to know whether this contributes to her vocal makeup.)
Carlos Alvarez is an accomplished Iago, and excels when portraying the villaneous side of the character. I am not quite so convinced about the other side. To be really convincing, an Iago needs to be very smooth, particularly when with Otello, but I found myself wondering several times whether Otello would really be taken in by this guy! This is a minor quibble, and to put it in perspective, I actually find this to be a problem with most Iagos that I have heard.
The remainder of the cast are excellent. Stephen Costello (Cassio) is clearly a lyric tenor to watch, and it is a luxury to have a singer like Mikhail Petrenko in the small part of Lodovico.
The stage production got mixed reviews, and it may be that it is one that works better on the screen than in the theater. The costumes match the period and are very eye-catching. The set consists mostly of a central raised platform, with a screen at the back which is used to provide a backdrop (including a video of the storm in Act 1). During the opening storm, the stage is divided by a big cleft shaped like a lightning bolt, into which Otello places his sword. This is maybe symbolic of the divide that grows during the opera between Otello and Desdemona. (When he dies, the two of them are on opposite sides of the divide, perhaps symbolising that, even in death and penetance, that divide still remains.) On the sides of the stage are stairways and alcoves, from which various characters watch the proceedings at crucial moments.
There are few stage props. Desdemona sleeps on the floor, and a bed would probably not have fitted in with the producer's concept, but I would have preferred to see one. Apart from that, the production works pretty well, and it has the effect of focussing attention on what is happening in the drama. The opera is well choreographed and not too controversial, except for some rather lewd dancing in the first act, where a young slave boy is taunted sexually by some of the young women. This scene stops short of being offensive, but in case anybody sees it and is worried that it sets the pace for what follows, there is nothing else like it in the remainder of the peformance.
The video quality is jaw-dropping at its best, which is at any time when the stage is adequately lit. Some people may find it distracting to see every drop of sweat on the singer's faces (and particularly where Otello is concerned there are lots of them!), but this just shows how much detail the high-definition cameras are picking up. The let-down is with the shots where the lighting levels are low, where there is noticeable video noise and also some smearing during movement. This problem is, of course, not peculiar to this recording. It has been a problem with essentially all HD opera recordings where there are darkly-lit scenes, but it is unfortunately one of those things that the extra clarity of HD will mercilessly show up. I wonder whether the way to go is to do the filming from special sessions using strong lighting, and then to darken some of the scenes digitally. (I must mention here that I have also seen the blu-ray version of Falstaff from Opus Arte, and I expected to see the same thing in the last (very dark) scene, but was surprised to see virtually no artifacting at all! So it is definitely possible to get this right. Perhaps Opus Arte could pass on their secret to Unitel Classica!)
The extras include a mildly interesting 20 minute documentary titled "Talking Otello", which is basically a mix of some clips from the video with the producer and the singers giving their thoughts on the characters and the production. Interesting that even the Herald has a say, but the conductor does not make a single appearance in this documentary.
Despite the odd reservation here and there, I have thoroughly enjoyed this recording. For me it delivers the "Otello" experience, and the sum is greater than the parts (although the parts themselves are mostly quite considerable). I would very highly recommend this to an opera-lover who is starting a blu-ray collection, and wants to add an Otello to it.

This is a very exciting performance of Otello and is exactly what you would expect with Muti as the conductor. Otello is high-voltage Verdi and all the cast plus orchestra fully realise this vision. Not only is the singing of consistently high standard - so is the acting, so essential with opera generally and especially in these days of revealing photography.

The orchestra is given full reign and this led some newspaper reviewers attending the original performances at the Festival to comment about the balance which gave the orchestra such prominence relative to the singers. It is this aspect of balance that has drawn the most adverse reviewer comment. However I would like to stress that I find the sound to be superb. It accurately reflects the sound world that I would expect from late Verdi which gives the orchestra far more prominance than that found in his early or middle period works.

My personal response to the recorded sound was also the reaction of a 'hi-fi' enthusiast friend of mine when he listened to the opera with me only yesterday and when we discussed this very matter. We would both expect the singers to be submerged occasionally considering the dramatic role given to the orchestral writing. To that extent the recording is completely faithful to both the composer and the performance. This is not a gentle story and needs to be played for the raw drama that it is. Check that your neighbours are out then play it as Verdi intended!

For me then, a clear 5 stars on all counts.

I know that my enthusiasm for this DVD must make me sound like a paid hack of the publishers but I can assure you I am not.

My wife and I greatly enjoy this opera and we equally enjoy the Salzburg Festival when we can fork out enough to afford the trip. We didn't see this production so were delighted to be able to buy the DVD.

Firstly it doesn't come musically much better than the Vienna Philharmonic under Ricardo Muti and the singers are all of dimilar calibre. But that in itself would not be enough. Equal praise must go to the director Stephan Langridge. The 'acting' performances are stunning. Otello is played as an extremely cold fish more concerned about the damage to his pride than to his love for Desdemona, all of which makes the denoument more acceptable.

But equal praise must be showered on Peter Schoenhofer the Video Director for amongst the very best direction in my large collection of opera DVDs. We know the Grosses Festspielhaus, and the wonderful closeups of the outstanding performances is something that would have only visible from the very front rows.

An amazing treat I can assure you. Don't hesitate.