Anyone contemplating
a purchase of this Philips reissue in
their budget "duo" series needs to know
one thing - there is no libretto provided.
This may not matter if you are an Italian
speaker practised in listening to the
sung word. But even that, I am informed
by an Italian friend, is not at all
easy considering the flowery coloratura
style in which Rossini writes.
The easy way around
this is to purchase Philips’ previous
packaging of the same performance. I
saw this on sale in a London CD store
for under £20 ($34 approx) which I thought
a bargain but you can get it on-line
from Amazon for an astonishing £12 ($20).(
Crotchet
£16.99 AmazonUK
£11.99 - probably whilst stocks
last - LM) It contains
a full libretto in four languages and
an informative six-page article. This
recent shoddily packed version has none
of these but is not likely to sell at
anything less than Amazon’s price for
the superior version.
What makes it such
a bargain, in either presentation, is
this 1978 performance which has all-round
strengths in recorded sound, orchestral
playing, and singing that includes José
Carreras in his invigorating youthful
prime.
Rossini’s Otello
cannot be described as a repertory work
yet it contains much music that represents
the composer at his very best. One problem
with its reputation is the prime association
of Rossini with comedy opera buffa
and a public perception that his serious
operas could not possibly be as good
as The Barber of Seville. The
main obstacle though was thrown up by
Verdi in 1887 when he produced his own
Otello, for many one of the greatest
of all operas and certainly the finest
Shakespeare operatic adaptation, with
a brilliant, faithful libretto by Boito.
Rossini's librettist
is not too concerned with the Shakespeare
text but more with the business of adapting
the story to Opera Seria conventions.
Thus it becomes a tale of a woman marrying
in secret against father's wishes, much
scheming, duels and a curse. What was
a bold breaking of the mould though
was the adherence to the bard’s tragic
ending with the murder of Desdemona.
This was too much for audiences though,
so in 1823, seven years after the premier,
Rossini revised it to allow Desdemona
to live. In the minimalist booklet provided
with this recording you would not even
know there was another version, let
alone which one this was. In fact we
get the original.
So it is not helpful,
in appreciating this opera, to get hung
up on Shakespearean text issues. And
anyway, there is a recent school of
thought that suggests the librettist
was using another source!
Lord Byron, no less,
made the mistake of approaching the
opera as musical Shakespeare when he
went to see it in 1819. He got quite
excited about the fact that he was seeing
the opera in the city where the action
took place.
"Tomorrow night I am
going to see Otello......to discover
what they will make of Shakespeare in
music."
Afterwards, disillusioned
on that front, he wrote, "They have
been crucifying Otello into an
opera…. Music good.......Scenery, dresses
and music very good".
The great poet must
be given credit for at least recognising
the quality of the music. Nowadays,
cognoscenti are fond of declaring that
Otello contains some of the best
music of the then 24 year old composer.
The first act, for example, has some
superb set pieces such as the duet between
Desdemona and Emilia, and the extended
finale is a triumph of musical and dramatic
build-up that incorporates astonishing
ranges of mood.
In some ways things
get even better in the third act, representing
a step forward in Rossini's musical
and dramatic development (coincidentally
the same point as Wagner in Siegfried).
Rossini responds to the tragic dénouement
with a flexibility that attacks some
current conventions and helps to serve
the drama well, generating powerful
emotion free of sentimentality.
This twenty six year
old recorded performance does Rossini
proud. There is no significant weakness
in any department. From the Overture
start we can hear that there is, in
London’s Philharmonia, a crack orchestra
at work, and the wonderful little woodwind
solos are clearly in the hands of distinguished
players.
Casting the singers
in this work is not an easy business
since it requires, unusually, three
tenors in the leading male roles. Led
by Carreras they perform excellently
and their voices contrast well which
aids characterisation. Frederica von
Stade sings authoritatively although
some may feel her slightly hard-edged
tone may not be in keeping with the
demure innocence of Desdemona. Paradoxically,
she softens her consonants in a way
that makes it obvious she is not a native
Italian. As her father, Samuel Ramey,
an experienced Rossini interpreter,
is commanding, as is Jesús López-Cobos
with his baton.
So if you want a recording
of this opera, this is the one to have.
A later recording made by Opera Rara
with Bruce Ford as Otello does not have
the same all-round strengths although
it does contain, in addition to the
standard early version, the alternative
"happy ending" revision. This
takes it to three discs and it is much
more expensive. So if you want to go
for the Philips, make sure you get the
earlier package with the libretto. The
number is 432 456-2.
John Leeman
Ambrosian Opera Chorus/John McCarthy 