Verdi: Otello
June 2004 Reviewed by: Wes Marshall Format: DVD	(all ratings out of 5): Overall Enjoyment Picture Quality Packaged Extras Sound Quality

Otello (Plácido Domingo) is a general in the Venetian army as well as the governor of Cyprus, and he is deeply in love with his wife, Desdemona. Meanwhile, Iago (James Morris) is furious about being passed over for a promotion that Otello gave to Cassio (Richard Croft). Iago sees his chance to have Cassio removed and gain revenge on Otello -- he will convince Otello that Cassio and Desdemona are having an affair, bringing ruin to them all.

Otello was one of Giuseppe Verdi’s supreme achievements. Since its premiere in 1887 at Milan’s Teatro alla Scala, the opera has been performed regularly around the world. This recording is from a 1996 PBS videotaping of a performance at the Met in October 1995. The star power at this performance was amazing: Domingo, the greatest Otello of our age; Morris, one of the few basses alive who can tackle the high notes that Verdi throws in like little land mines to make a singer’s life miserable; and Renée Fleming, who was singing her first Desdemona.

Domingo was 54 years old at the time. That may have been a pretty ripe old age for playing a role with such vocal demands, but he brought it off beautifully. Age had improved his acting to the point you forget he’s Domingo and start thinking he’s Otello. If your main knowledge of Domingo is watching him ham it up on The Three Tenors, watch during his aria "Dio mi potevi!" (chapter 30) where he employs a full gamut of dramatic vocalisms and shows his acting power. You’ll understand why he has been so popular over the years.

Morris seldom gets the credit he deserves. Criticism generally relates to his wooden acting style. Perhaps he looks tight from the first balcony, but with close-up camera shots, you see sly mannerisms that make Iago an even more frightening bad guy. As for his voice, check his aria "Era la notte" (chapter 22) and listen to him float some ethereal high notes while he leads Otello to his downfall.

Renée Fleming took what is an essentially thankless role of a namby-pamby woman who grows to become annoying, and still makes her into someone beautiful and beatific. Desdemona’s most famous aria is the "Willow Song" ("Mia madre aveva una povera ancella," chapter 41) and Fleming nails it, but listen instead to her reading of "Ave Maria" (chapter 43), Verdi’s most beautiful devotional piece outside of his "Requiem." For this aria, Desdemona is in the heartbreaking position of being attacked on all sides, and for something she is entirely innocent of. Her entreaty to the Virgin is quietly heartbreaking.

PBS did a fine job of capturing the sounds of Otello. The voices are pure and clear, and the orchestra has good separation and the normal amount of depth you would hear in an opera hall where the players are in a pit. The sound engineers also picked up a few things I wish they had missed. This was recorded in October and apparently New Yorkers were facing a tough flu season. We are treated to lots of coughing from the audience -- all reproduced with excellent fidelity. No one will mistake the picture for high definition, but it is quite clear for a live, videotaped performance.

Overall, this is the best current choice for a DVD of Otello, and I can’t imagine a better one coming along for several years.

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