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Giuseppe Verdi operas
Rigoletto (1851)
Il trovatore (1853)
La traviata (1853)
Les vêpres siciliennes (1855)
Un ballo in maschera (1859)
La forza del destino (1862)
Aida (1871)
Otello (1887)
Falstaff (1893)

“Otello” by Giuseppe Verdi

Premiere / date of written: 5 February 1887

Otello is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Shakespeare's play Othello. It was Verdi's penultimate opera, and was first performed at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, on February 5, 1887.

Libretti

# Language Authors
1 Italian Arrigo Boito
2 German Gerd Uekermann
3 English Avril Bardoni
4 French J. Barnabé, 1986

original libretto
line-by-line of the original libretto

Audio recordings

Year Cast
Conductor,
Opera chorus and orchestra
Label,
Comment
Buy
1932
Otello — Nicola Fusati,
Desdemona — Maria Carbone,
Iago — Apollo Granforte,
Cassio — Piero Girardi,
Rodrigo — Nello Palai,
Lodovico — Corrado Zambelli,
Montano — Enrico Spada,
Emilia — Tamara Beltacchi
Carlo Sabajno
La Scala Orchestra and Chorus, Milan
CD: Preiser Records Cat: 20012

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1947

DM's pick

Otello — Ramón Vinay,
Desdemona — Herva Nelli,
Iago — Giuseppe Valdengo,
Cassio — Virginio Assandri,
Rodrigo — Leslie Chabay,
Lodovico — Nicola Moscona,
Montano — Arthur Newman,
Emilia — Nan Merriman
Arturo Toscanini
NBC Symphony Orchestra and chorus
CD: RCA Victor Cat: 60302

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1954
Otello — Mario Del Monaco,
Desdemona — Renata Tebaldi,
Iago — Aldo Protti,
Cassio — Piero De Palma,
Rodrigo — Angelo Mercuriali,
Lodovico — Fernando Corena,
Montano — Pier Luigi Latinucci,
Emilia — Luisa Ribacchi,
Un Araldo — Dario Caselli
Alberto Erede
Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia orchestra and chorus
CD: Decca

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1961
Otello — Mario Del Monaco,
Desdemona — Renata Tebaldi,
Iago — Aldo Protti,
Cassio — Nello Romanato,
Rodrigo — Athos Cesarini,
Lodovico — Fernando Corena,
Montano — Tom Krause,
Emilia — Ana Raquel Satra
Herbert von Karajan
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Vienna State Opera Chorus
CD: Decca Cat: 028941161826

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1973
Otello — Jon Vickers,
Desdemona — Mirella Freni,
Iago — Peter Glossop,
Cassio — Aldo Bottion,
Rodrigo — Michel Sénéchal,
Lodovico — José van Dam,
Montano — Mario Macchi,
Emilia — Stefania Malagù,
Un Araldo — Mario Macchi
Herbert von Karajan
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Berlin Deutsche Oper Chorus
CD: EMI Cat: CMS 769 3082

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1978
Otello — Plácido Domingo,
Desdemona — Renata Scotto,
Iago — Sherrill Milnes,
Cassio — Frank Little
Rodrigo — Paul Crook
Lodovico — Paul Plishka
Montano — Malcolm King
Emilia — Jean Kraft
Un Araldo — Malcolm King
James Levine
National Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus
CD: RCA Victor Cat: 74321395012

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1992
Otello — Plácido Domingo,
Desdemona — Kiri Te Kanawa,
Iago — Sergei Leiferkus,
Cassio — Robin Leggate,
Rodrigo — Ramon Remedios,
Lodovico — Mark Beesley,
Montano — Roderick Earle,
Emilia — Claire Powell,
Un Araldo — Christopher Lackner
Sir Georg Solti
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden Chorus and Orchestra
Brian Large
DVD:Kultur Video Cat: 0 32031 14929 8

Amazon.com
1994
Otello — Plácido Domingo,
Desdemona — Cheryl Studer,
Iago — Sergei Leiferkus,
Cassio — Ramón Vargas,
Rodrigo — Michael Schade,
Lodovico — Ildebrando d' Arcangelo,
Montano — Giacomo Prestia,
Emilia — Denyce Graves,
Un Araldo — Philippe Duminy
Myung-whun Chung
Opéra Bastille, Paris
CD: Deutsche Grammophon Cat: 439 805-2

Amazon.com
2013
Otello — Aleksandrs Antonenko,
Desdemona — Krassimira Stoyanova,
Iago — Carlo Guelfi,
Cassio — Juan Francisco Gatell,
Rodrigo — Michael Spyres,
Lodovico — Eric Owens,
Montano — Paolo Battaglia,
Emilia — Barbara Di Castri,
Un Araldo — David Govertsen
Riccardo Muti
Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus
CSO Resound

Amazon.com

Video recordings

Year Cast
Conductor,
Opera chorus and orchestra,
Director
Label,
Comment
Buy
1978
Otello — Jon Vickers,
Desdemona — Renata Scotto,
Iago — Cornell MacNeil,
Cassio — Raymond Gibbs,
Rodrigo — Andrea Velis,
Lodovico — James Morris,
Montano — Robert Goodloe,
Emilia — Jean Kraft,
Un Araldo — Arthur Thompson
James Levine
Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus
Franco Zeffirelli
DVD: Met Opera Cat: 811357012185

Taken from the September 25, 1978 live performance.
Amazon.com
1995
Otello — Plácido Domingo,
Desdemona — Renée Fleming,
Iago — James Morris,
Cassio — Richard Croft,
Rodrigo — Charles Anthony,
Lodovico — Alexander Anisimov,
Montano — Ted Lambrinos,
Emilia — Jane Bunnell,
Un Araldo — Christopher Schaldenbrand
James Levine
Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus
Brian Large
DVD: Deutsche Grammophon Cat: 00440 073 0929

Amazon.com

External links