Opera in 3 acts
Libretto: Francesco Berio di Salsa [Based:William Shakespeare: Othello]
First performance: 4 December, 1816, Teatro di San Carlo, Naples, Italy
Recorded: 14 and 16 February, 2014, Operahouse of Antwerp, Belgium
Otello - Gregory Kunde
Desdemona - Carmen Romeu
Rodrigo - Maxim Mironov
Iago - Robert McPherson
Elmiro Barberigo - Josef Wagner
Emilia - Raffaella Lupinacci
The Doge of Venice - Maarten Heirman
A gondolier - Stephan Adriaens
The so-called Rossini Renaissance (post-WWII) was an outright revolution, as it led to the rediscovery and staging of a great number of Rossini operas, especially of the serious genre. Otello, one of the finest of Rossini's serious works, marked one of the first encounters in the history of Italian opera between a composer and Shakespeare's theatre. Although Rossini later revised the ending away from its fateful, tragic outcome, this production, recorded live in 2014 at Antwerp's Vlaanderen Opera, is based on the Rossini Foundation's critical edition and has the first, tragic finale. |
