Programs · Episode

ROSSINI: Otello

Program: At the Opera
Aired: Saturday, February 23, 2019 @ 6:00 pm
Hosted by Lisa Simeone

Lovers of Shakespeare's Othello may find that Rossini's version strays a bit at the beginning. But when all is said and done, Rossini and the bard seem joined at the hip, in a hair-raising finale that rivals even Verdi's masterful setting of the drama. Rossini’s Otello hasn’t been recorded all that often, but the two releases we’ll hear are both first-rate.  One stars tenor Bruce Ford in the title role, with soprano Elizabeth Futral as Desdemona, and the other features tenor Jose Carreras and soprano Frederica von Stade.

FEATURED RECORDINGS:

David Parry, conductor
Philharmonia Orchestra, Geoffrey Mitchell Choir
CAST: Bruce Ford (Otello); Elizabeth Futral (Desdemona); Juan José Lopera (Iago); Ildebrando D’Arcangelo (Elmiro); William Matteuzzi (Rodrigo); Enkelejda Shkosa (Emilia); Ryland Davies (The Doge)
(Opera Rara ORC18)

Jesús López-Cobos, conductor
Philharmonia Orchestra
Ambrosian Opera Chorus
CAST: José Carreras (Otello); Frederica von Stade (Desdemona); Gianfranco Pastine (Iago); Samuel Ramey (Elmiro); Salvatore Fisichella (Rodrigo); Nucci Condò (Emilia); Alfonso Leoz (The Doge)
(Philips 432456)

MORE ABOUT THE OPERA:

It's often said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.  But when it comes to music, there are times when that flattery winds up more famous than its inspiration.

 For example, who do you think of when the soul hit "Respect" is mentioned?  Aretha Franklin, right?  Well, fair enough.  Still, the first version of the tune actually was written and released a couple of years earlier than Aretha's — by Otis Redding.  He was a legend in his own right, but Redding's original version of "Respect" sometimes gets, well, no respect. 

The same thing happened to a legendary opera composer when Giuseppe Verdi's Otello was premiered in 1887.  That opera quickly became a landmark among musical settings of Shakespeare.  But Verdi wasn't the first great composer to score a hit with an opera based on Othello — it had already been done seven decades earlier, by Gioachino Rossini.

Rossini's Otello seldom gets its due in today's theaters.  It may have been overshadowed not just by Verdi's opera, but also by a couple of Rossini's own works. Its 1816 debut was sandwiched between the premieres of two, immensely popular Rossini comedies:  The Barber of Seville and La Cenerentola.

Eventually, lovers of both music and Shakespeare may have decided that Verdi's opera simply hews more closely to the original play, and thus preferred his later version of the story.  But, while Rossini's Otello may stray a bit from Shakespeare at the start, by the time the opera's last act begins, the composer and the bard seem joined at the hip, in a hair-raising finale that rivals even Verdi's masterful tragedy.

The final act of Rossini's Otello was also a significant moment in Rossini's career, and for opera as a whole.  The drama's first two acts are in a fairly traditional sort of opera seria style.  But with his third act, Rossini seems to enter a whole new world of freely flowing dramatic expression, carried by intensely emotional music.  Even the subject matter was daring.  Early 19th-century operas almost always had happy endings.  But, as in Shakespeare's play, the end of Rossini's opera is both tragic and disturbing, even today.

On At the Opera, host Lisa Simeone takes us through Rossini’s drama in a pair of recordings that may make you wonder why the opera isn’t performed more often. To start, we’ll hear tenor Bruce Ford in the tile role, with soprano Elizabeth Futral as Desdemona, in a 1999 recording led by conductor David Parry.  Then, from 1978, Jesús López-Cobos leads a cast including tenor José Carreras and soprano Frederica von Stade.

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