# Otello on CD



## science (Oct 14, 2010)

I did a little search but I didn't find a thread about this - 

I don't have Otello on CD, and I think I'd like to do something about that. What would be your #1 recommendation to me?


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

I've got two, both with Domingo in the role

















both good but I prefer the one with Milnes


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## Almaviva (Aug 13, 2010)

science said:


> I did a little search but I didn't find a thread about this -


There is a thread about Opera on CD in the subforum, and the Verdi thread should also include CDs, as decided when the subforum was started.


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## myaskovsky2002 (Oct 3, 2010)

I don't like Otello, I don't like Pasta, I don't like Pizza, I don't like Mr. Giuseppe Verdi anymore.


Martin...


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## brianwalker (Dec 9, 2011)

Considering that it's Verdi's greatest work the number of recordings has been quite paltry. Discounting the famous Toscanini there are only a few real options left; the Vickers recording, if you're a fans of his type of Verdi singing, suffers from poor sound and atrocious conducting. Levine's recording with Domingo, endowed with the best Iago on record, suffers from poor sound and miking that butchers the sound. That leaves the Domingo recording on DG with Chung which I haven't listened to. My preferred version is the Karajan with del Monaco, my favorite Otello. The Iago isn't fantastic but sufficient and as a bonus you get Tibaldi, but that's not what makes the Karajan a clear first choice - what makes Karajan a clear first choice is the combination of Karajan's superlative, that is, relative to his mediocre competitors, conducting, the Vienna Philharmonic's virtuoso playing, and the glorious DECCA '60s sound engineering - the singing and the orchestra are perfectly balanced and the brass and cellos of the Vienna Philharmonic create a blistering red hot atmosphere that makes the orchestra far more than a mere accompaniment as it is in say, Rigoletto, Il Trovatore, and La Traviata - this is the only opera where Verdi's orchestration is on par with Wagner's. Of course if you're looking for bel canto singing and cheap, easy-to-digest arias and virtuoso singing I would recommend Vickers because the Levine has the insidious combination of emphasis on the orchestration combined with poor conducting and boom-y, boxed sound.



sospiro said:


> I've got two, both with Domingo in the role
> 
> 
> 
> ...


*How good is the sound of this recording and how does the orchestral playing/conducting compare with the Karajan/del Monaco recording?*


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## NightHawk (Nov 3, 2011)

Obviously, this is an historic recording of 'Otello' and the sonic quality is very good. Ramon Vinay is formidable as the Moor.


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## sospiro (Apr 3, 2010)

This is my favourite one now


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

myaskovsky2002 said:


> I don't like Otello, I don't like Pasta, I don't like Pizza, I don't like Mr. Giuseppe Verdi anymore.
> 
> Martin...


Are you becoming an old misery?


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

brianwalker said:


> Considering that it's Verdi's greatest work the number of recordings has been quite paltry. Discounting the famous Toscanini there are only a few real options left; the Vickers recording, if you're a fans of his type of Verdi singing, suffers from poor sound and atrocious conducting. Levine's recording with Domingo, endowed with the best Iago on record, suffers from poor sound and miking that butchers the sound. That leaves the Domingo recording on DG with Chung which I haven't listened to. My preferred version is the Karajan with del Monaco, my favorite Otello. The Iago isn't fantastic but sufficient and as a bonus you get Tibaldi, but that's not what makes the Karajan a clear first choice - what makes Karajan a clear first choice is the combination of Karajan's superlative, that is, relative to his mediocre competitors, conducting, the Vienna Philharmonic's virtuoso playing, and the glorious DECCA '60s sound engineering - the singing and the orchestra are perfectly balanced and the brass and cellos of the Vienna Philharmonic create a blistering red hot atmosphere that makes the orchestra far more than a mere accompaniment as it is in say, Rigoletto, Il Trovatore, and La Traviata - this is the only opera where Verdi's orchestration is on par with Wagner's. Of course if you're looking for bel canto singing and cheap, easy-to-digest arias and virtuoso singing I would recommend Vickers because the Levine has the insidious combination of emphasis on the orchestration combined with poor conducting and boom-y, boxed sound.
> 
> *How good is the sound of this recording and how does the orchestral playing/conducting compare with the Karajan/del Monaco recording?*


The day that Vickers can be decribed as a bel canto singer is the day that the sky falls down.


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

If you want Vickers the EMI Freni/Glossop/von Karajan is the one to get.
I see that the, presumably live, Del Monaco/Tebaldi/Warren,Met/Stiedry early 1950's recording is available.
Naxos have the Martinelli/Rethberg/Tibbett/ Met. of 1938 recording refurbished by Ward Marston in their catalogue.
Martinelli was the greatest Otello and Tibbett the greatest Iago.


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## Yashin (Jul 22, 2011)

I have yet to hear the Sir Colin Davis set....but i thought i read a review and it said the Otello was underpowered!!

My favourite Otello by far is Guiseppe Giacomini. He can be found on this live set -with super sound conducted by Alain Lombard. It is superb.

Listen to this clip from youtube.











Next i would go with Del Monaco.

Vickers just did not cut it in my opinion and i found the pace of the recording way too slow, depressing almost with no sense of urgency.

Domingo i would leave for DVD's as i don't like his recording with Levine but i have not listened to the Chung one.


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## MAuer (Feb 6, 2011)

I have the Levine version, plus the Maazel:









Domingo is the Otello in both sets (I think he must be the most recorded Otello around). Prefer Milnes in the Levine set to Justino Diaz in the Maazel, but like Ricciarelli's Desdemona (Maazel) much better than Scotto's (Levine).


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## brianwalker (Dec 9, 2011)

moody said:


> The day that Vickers can be decribed as a bel canto singer is the day that the sky falls down.


I meant bel canto as a recording that neglects the orchestra and relegates it to the status of mere accompaniment.


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

brianwalker said:


> I meant bel canto as a recording that neglects the orchestra and relegates it to the status of mere accompaniment.


Yes, but it does not mean tha t and I think we must keep to the correct meanings of these expressions, then everybody might know what we are talking about.


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## AndyS (Dec 2, 2011)

moody said:


> If you want Vickers the EMI Freni/Glossop/von Karajan is the one to get.


Isn't there quite a whopping cut to it in the third act though?


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## moody (Nov 5, 2011)

AndyS said:


> Isn't there quite a whopping cut to it in the third act though?


What cut are you alluding to ? I did not notice it but it's only fairly recently that cuts were not fairly common across the board. I do not have this recording in my collection but have scouted around and can find no mention of a cut in Opera On Record for instance. In his first recording Karajan included the ballet music in act 111 which disconcerted some people but so did Serafin.


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## AndyS (Dec 2, 2011)

i haven't heard it but I thought about buying it and saw from amazon reviews that its apparently cut the act 3 ensemble?


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