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Desdemona is reduced to trying over with touching artistry her Willow Song and continuing to a quiet Ave Maria when Othello enters to ask if she has said her prayers. The last time I saw the play, it was dominated by a bed so large that the whole cast could have slept there. Now poor Desdemona in her nightgown has only the floor to lie on as Othello gradually makes his murderous intention clear [watch and listen -- DVD 2 chapter 14, 58:40-60:00]. Boito and Verdi are no more merciful to Othello's gullibility than Shakespeare, but musically to die upon an Italian kiss of remembrance is somehow very different from the play's muttered conclusion.

Have you said your prayers this evening? Desdemona (Krassimira Stoyanova), Othello (José Cura) and the broken cross in Act 4. DVD screenshot © 2006 Opus Arte/Gran Teatre del Liceu
Have you said your prayers this evening? Desdemona (Krassimira Stoyanova), Othello (José Cura) and the broken cross in Act 4. DVD screenshot © 2006 Opus Arte/Gran Teatre del Liceu

 

Copyright © 23 July 2007 Robert Anderson, London UK

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Giuseppe Verdi: Otello

OA 0963 D 2xDVD9 NTSC 16/9 anamorphic LPCM Stereo/digital DTS surround NEW RELEASE 151' Opus Arte/Gran Teatre del Liceu 2006

José Cura, Otello; Lado Ataneli, Jago; Vittorio Grigolo, Cassio; Vicenc Esteve Madrid, Roderigo; Giorgio Giuseppini, Lodovico; Francisco Santiago, Montano; Roberto Accurso, Herald; Krassimira Stoyanova, Desdemona; Ketevan Kemoklidze, Emilia; Symphony Orchestra and Chorus of the Gran Teatre del Liceu; Antoni Ros-Marbà, musical director; Willy Decker, stage director; François de Carpentries, re-staging director; John Macfarlane, sets and costumes; David Finn, lighting; Athol Farmer, choreography; José Luis Basso, chorus master

Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901): Otello (opera in four acts with a libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on the Shakespeare play)

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