|
|
VERDI: Otello ROSSINI: The Barber of Seville For some years opera audiences have been waiting for Jonas Kaufmann to sing Otello, the most demanding of all Verdi tenor roles. It finally took place June 21, 2017 at the Royal Opera House, and we have it now on DVD. It is a production directed by Keith Warner, with costumes by Kaspar Glarner, sets designed by Boris Kublica and lighting by Bruno Poet. The rest of the cast was strong, particularly Marco Vratogna's sinister Iago. Although audience response was ecstatic, I found this a disappointment. In spite of his powerful Wagner performances, Kaufmann really doesn't have the stentorian power for Otello. He was most effective in the gentle passages in the love duet. He wasn't helped by the stark production. The final scene was unconvincing; Otello stabs himself behind Desdemona's bed, then staggers out and climbs onto the bed. There is noattempt for that final kiss. Doubtless future performances of this role by Kaufmann will be more convincing, particularly in a more appropriate production. Video and audio are excellent, and as a bonus we have a ten-minute feature with performers discussing the music. This is a welcome issue, although it really is only a suggestion of greater things to come. In the meantime, the Domingo videos remain unsurpassed. This DGG limited edition release offers two performances
of The Barber of Seville. One is a studio recording made in
London's Watford Town Hall September 1971, the other a video filmed in
Salzburg August/September 1972, with the same cast and the LaScala Chorus
and Orchestra. The conductor is a very young Claudio Abbado, who leads
spirited performances. And he cats is just about perfect, particularly
Hermann Prey's Figaro and Teresa Berganza's Rosina. This is a deluxe
set containing two regular SACDs that contain the studio recording, and
a DVD of the Salzburg live performance:, also a Blu Ray disk that contains
the 1971 studio recording.. Of particular interest here is that both
versions were recorded in multi-track audio; this is the first time the
1971 recoding has ben issued in that format, and multi-channel audio
is highly effective. The Salzburg 1972 performance was issued on DVD
some years ago; now we have it again as part of this package.
|