Search - Giuseppe Verdi, Alberto Paoletti, Rome Opera House Orchestra :: Verdi: Otello

The conductor and orchestra are the stars!

Impostazione | New York City Area | 12/11/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The opening scene is simply fantastic. There is a rare sense of wonderful excitement that I have not heard in other recordings. Then Sarri enters...ESULTATE! His deluxe rich tones do not match the intensity orchestra and chorus. In fact, none of the singers do. La Pollo has a thin but a stylish way of singing, sometimes she fades out though, as if she lost breath....suddenly. She may the most exciting singer of the cast. Mr. Serra possesses a rough voice of not too extensive a range, but menacing indeed. All in all, Otello's drama is well preserved, above all, in the orchestra and chorus.



Yet despite problems, this set is realistic in a conversational way. It projects, the air of the time, not all luxury as in a Zeffirelli production, but having a sense of space in between, like a breeze through trees or a drafty old castle.







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