Verdi: Otello (highlights)
Mario del Monaco, Giovanni Martinelli, Jon Vickers, Giovanni Zenatello, Enrico Caruso, Ramon Vinay (Otello), Lawrence Tibbett, Tito Gobbi, Titta Ruffo (Iago), Renata Tebaldi, Eleanor Steber, Rosa Ponselle, Elisabeth Rethberg and Leonie Rysanek (Desdemona)
by the arrival of the conclusion of Niun Mi Tema, I was left nearly convinced that I had heard the work complete and had barely noticed any differences in the recorded sound...Inevitably the...
Verdi: Otello (highlights)
Mario del Monaco, Giovanni Martinelli, Jon Vickers, Giovanni Zenatello, Enrico Caruso, Ramon Vinay (Otello), Lawrence Tibbett, Tito Gobbi, Titta Ruffo (Iago), Renata Tebaldi, Eleanor Steber, Rosa Ponselle, Elisabeth Rethberg and Leonie Rysanek (Desdemona)
Purchase product
by the arrival of the conclusion of Niun Mi Tema, I was left nearly convinced that I had heard the work complete and had barely noticed any differences in the recorded sound...Inevitably the...
About
Over 77 minutes of operatic history here as Magdalen celebrates Verdi’s bicentenary with highlights from surely his greatest work Otello, first produced at La Scala, Milan on 5 February 1887.
The set features carefully chosen selections performed by many of the most famous interpreters recorded between 1914 and 1961. Several lengthy extracts are taken from studio recordings, others from live performances and the remainder from classic 78s.
Among the singers are Mario del Monaco, Giovanni Martinelli, Jon Vickers, Giovanni Zenatello, Enrico Caruso, Ramon Vinay (Otello); Lawrence Tibbett, Tito Gobbi, Titta Ruffo (Iago); Renata Tebaldi, Eleanor Steber, Rosa Ponselle, Elisabeth Rethberg and Leonie Rysanek (Desdemona). The conductors include Toscanini, Karajan, Panizza and Serafin.
Almost all items were given top recommendations in Alan Blyth’s Opera on Record (Hutchinson 1979), still regarded as the ‘bible’ for collectors of operatic recordings.
Contents and tracklist
- Athos Cesarini, Mario del Monaco, Vienna State Opera Chorus, Aldo Protti, Nello Romanato, Tom Krause, Herman Dreeben, Metropolitan Opera House Chorus, Nicholas Massue, Lawrence Tibbett, Ramon, Eleanor Steber
- Wiener Philharmoniker, Metropolitan Opera House Orchestra, Orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera Association
- Herbert von Karajan, Wilfred Pelletier, Fausto Cleva
- Tito Gobbi, Jon Vickers, Miriam Pirazzini, Leonie Rysanek, Lawrence Tibbett, Titta Ruffo, Enrico Caruso
- Philharmonia Orchestra, Teatro dell'Opera, Roma, Metropolitan Opera House Orchestra, Unamed Orchestra
- James Robertson, Tullio Serafin, Wilfred Pelletier, Unamed Conductor
- Ramon Vinay, Herva Nelli, Giovanni Zenatello, Nello Romanato, Aldo Protti, Athos Cesarini, Vienna State Opera Chorus, Fernando Corena, Ana Raquel Satre, Mario del Monaco, Renata Tebaldi
- NBC Symphony Orchestra, Unamed Orchestra, Wiener Philharmoniker
- Arturo Toscanini, Bruno Reibold, Herbert von Karajan
- Rosa Ponselle, Elisabeth Rethberg, Nicola Moscona, George Cehanovsky, Alessio de Paolis, Giovanni Martinelli
- Unamed Orchestra, Metropolitan Opera
- Rosario Bourdon, Ettore Panizza
Awards and reviews
11th July 2013
by the arrival of the conclusion of Niun Mi Tema, I was left nearly convinced that I had heard the work complete and had barely noticed any differences in the recorded sound...Inevitably the sound quality varies, but Magdalen have done a wonderful job in mitigating those differences. It is a collection I shall return to with pleasure
19th May 2013
This fascinating collection takes us through the work in mostly quite sizeable chunks, from Una vela... Esultate to Niun mi tema, in recordings made between 1914 and 1960 (Karajan’s Decca set, with its matchless sound).
