Search - Nicola Moscona, Herva Nelli, Arthur Newman :: Otello

Come On Folks!

Casey Ellis | Mohegan Lake, New York United States | 09/26/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Ok I know this might not have the big names many opera fans are used to. And I know that many of you who are reading this review have heard horror stories about Toscanini as an opera conductor. Much as I love the Maestro, I would usually agree with you. He often drives way too hard, fails to see nuances and views the work as a kind of vocal symphony. And yes his opera sets ARE usually poorly cast.
That being said, none of it holds here. Toscanini's feel for this entire score is almost uncanny. NOTHING seems the least bit out of place or miscalculated. It really does become terrifyingly good; one thinks of the old stories that Paganini sold his soul to the devil in exchange for his superhuman artistic abilities. I think a good example is the opening. Compare this performance with the one by Tulio Serafin. In the Serafin, everything is hanging out all over the place. All sounds nice but there is really no way of telling what is happening in this scene. It is just sort of "gone through". On the other hand Toscanini makes every single note count. Everything phrase is carefully (though quickly) unified and shot out like a cannon ball. From the opening crash, the listener gets a sense of urgency and frantic activity. The effect is spine-tingling. The tension builds without pause and becomes nearly unbearable till it is all finally disipated and released in the "Esultate!" Thrilling! This holds throughout this performance but Toscanini is able to slow down and linger when he needs to (the love duet for example). Orchestra and chorus respond brilliantly to the Maestro's demands. The sound is clear but tight (another reviewer somewhere pointed out that this tightness fits the drama perfectly). That critic was right, the sound gives the chilling effect of being strangled. Shakespeare's intentions are well served by this. I wonder if it was done on purpose.
The casting is first rate. Ramon Vinay is off the charts. He is not often pretty (Otello should NEVER be pretty anyway) but listening to his voice must be experienced. There is some strain on top but who cares, as almost everything else here it fits?! His voice has nobility, splendor, insanity, brute strength. The baritonal flavor is just what Verdi wanted (I understand Vinay also sang baritone and even bass roles). Combine all of this with his amazing conviction and histrionic ability and the effect is earth-shattering. His absorption here is a key ingredient in assuring that the tragedy of this story comes off. We feel Otello's decline and fall. This is truly the voice of one who loved not wisely but too well. Why Vinay was not better served on records I don't know. His was one of the unique voices of the century.
I never liked Herva Nelli much but either this part fit her or she just had a great few nights here. The quality of the voice is quite pleasant although nothing unusual. But she makes Desdemona into a real, vital human being. One feels her youth, inexperience but also her courage, unshakable love and bafflement at what is happening to her.
Giuseppe Valdengo gets an A+++++++! Thank god someone realized that Jago cannot sound like the Devil incarnate whenever he speaks! I love Tito Gobbi but any Otello (let alone Jon Vickers) would have had to be mentally deficient not to realize his friend was a monster with the way he sounds! Valdengo actually has a beautiful, lyrical baritone. And he uses it when Jago would need to. When he talks to Otello or Cassio even the listener can be fooled. He sounds like the typical baritone "best buddy". When alone though, his snarling rage and perverse imagination breaks forth. This Jago however is no Mephistopholes. He is a very sick MAN. In the "Credo" there is even (what sounds to me) like a moment of self-doubt. A case in point is the drinking song. He sounds so friendly, so happy. But there is this undercurrent of wickedness. And his little asides are truly chilling, enough to make you doubt just about anyone! The supporting cast is great (especially Virginio Assandri's well-voiced and rakish but charming and kind-hearted Cassio) and everyone works together as a team giving a real sense of theater.
To close, this must be the reference "Otello". You need it in your collection! Forget what you may have heard from others, this is something you must hear for yourself! Toscanini's work needs no further praise. The cast may not have the most "lovely" voices ever (although Vinay's is one of the most unique) and they may not be very famous but sense when is opera, especially this one, about that kind of thing? Conviction, power, and yes beauty (if a different kind of beauty) are here. The body of Orpheus is together. This is opera as music drama. If only it were always so! Enjoy!"

Otello as Verdi mend it to be

Casey Ellis | 08/12/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Although I do posses several fine Otello recordings, which do all have their own benefits (Serafin, Karajan, Levine, Furtwängler), the "old" Toscanini is my favourite recording of my favourite Verdi opera. Of course the main reason for that is Arthuro Toscanini himself. His exact tempi, his very "strict", even sometimes aggressive conducting is the backbone of this performance. But how strange; despite the way of conducting, or one must maybe say due to, suddenly the whole opera comes to live in a vivid and sparkling way. I do think this is what Verdi had in mind while composing. The result is that even after all these years (the recording is from '47) this recording is still a unique document, not surpassed by "modern" ones. Ramón Vinay does a "honorable" Otello, quite the opposite of a Mario del Monaco. Giuseppe Valdengo is a real villain (Iago). But my personal favourite is Herva Nelli. She performs a unique Desdemona; no one after her got close, not Rysanek, not Scotto and even not Tebaldi. Nelli's Desdemona is extremely sensitive, fragile and serene. I get shivers from her listening to her willow song (Mia madre aveva una povera ancella). The sound of the recording is a good, fair mono one."

This is my favorite Toscanini opera recording.....

albertatamazon | East Point, Georgia USA | 07/15/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"and along with the Callas "Tosca",perhaps the greatest Italian opera recording ever made,at least in mono. Toscanini not only lives up to his reputation as the greatest conductor of the 20th century,but shows himself to be an excellent "director" in helping the singers create their characters. Unlike Placido Domingo,(another great Otello) Ramon Vinay has a rough edge to his voice underlying its velvety surface,and the roughness highlights the fact that Otello may have a barbaric side which can easily be manipulated into murder. Iago is magnificently sung by Giuseppe Valdengo,who deliberately gives his beautiful baritone an ominous,creepy,snake-like quality,and Herva Nelli purposefully makes her normally strong,loud soprano voice sound small,with an innocent,almost frail quality. Toscanini manages to bring this live broadcast performance (audience applause is totally omitted) in at two hours and four minutes,15 to 20 minutes shorter than the usual "Otello",without cutting anything and WITHOUT MAKING ANYTHING SOUND RUSHED. He scrupulously observes the score at moments when other conductors do not--a few examples: Vinay's opening "Esultate!",which isn't dragged out as it is traditionally for emphasis,and the three appearances of the "kiss" theme, at moderate speed (instead of slow) in the Love Duet, and getting increasingly slower each time it reappears,until it is played very slowly in the final Death Scene. The NBC Symphony Orchestra is amazingly expressive -i.e. the ominous chords representing Iago at the beginning of Act II. Whatever your opera tastes are,don't make the mistake of passing up this "Otello" just because Domingo has three different recordings of it available,or because you don't recognize the names of the singers."