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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The alternative Otello, 6 Dec 2004
If you're used to Verdi's version, it can be slightly disconcerting to have all the main male roles in "Otello" sung by tenors - but make the mental gear-change to Rossini and it all makes sense. Bruce Ford sings the title role very well, and Juan Jose Lopera is excellent as Jago. William Matteuzzi's Rodrigo strikes me as utterly wet, but that may be the character; it doesn't matter whether he's Rossini's, Verdi's, or Shakespeare's Rodrigo, he's a bit of a waste of space . . . I was particularly impressed by Elizabeth Futral's Desdemona towards the end of the opera, where she adds depth to the part.The joy of this particular set is the appendices. Here we have the 'lieto fine' - the alternate happy ending where Otello finally buys a clue, wonders "What am I doing even THINKING about believing Jago?", and promptly informs Desdemona that he won't be stabbing her tonight, thanks very much: it's time for a love-duet. Quite right, says the Doge et al, entering to find Desdemona not a corpse; all ends in joy, after this positively stunning outbreak of common sense. Okay, so it's neither Shakespeare nor tragedy, but I like it! There are a number of other items in the appendices of interest, but the one that struck me is the Malibran version of "Otello"; here illustrated by a duet as arranged for the famous singer Maria Malibran, who made her name singing the role of Desdemona - and then went on to make her name singing the role of Otello! Early 19th century opera does on occasion seem to have invented gender-bending, with male and female roles for castrati, female sopranos singing roles written for castrato singers, mezzos having male "britches" roles written for them, and general gender confusion abounding - but Otello was definitely written for a man, and Malibran just plain co-opted it. To (as quoted in the Opera Rara booklet) great critical acclaim. Here the duet is sung by Enkelejda Shkosa as Otello and the tenor Juan Jose Lopera as Jago, and it works splendidly. Who would have thought? Oh, and if we can think below tenor range for a moment, Ildebrando D'Arcangelo does an excellent Elmiro (Desdemona's father)! Bruce Ford is probably one of the best Rossinian tenors singing today; add that factor to the additional material in this set, and if "Otello" is your thing, you really can't go wrong with this Opera Rara production.
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~ Majella Cullagh
~ Nelly Miricioiu
~ Gaetano Donizetti
~ Annick Massis
~ Gaetano Donizetti
