OTELLO
After 'Aida', Verdi had reached the point in his life where he seemed to have no more operatic mountains to climb. In 1874, his requiem mass was first performed in the church of San Marco, Milan to tremendous acclaim and Verdi had no plans for writing any further operas. The Countess Maffei tried to shame him into composing but he replied that it was all over, the account was settled. And, for four or five years it seemed likely that the account would never be re-opened. However, in 1879, Verdi and his wife were in Milan and entertained his publisher, Giulio Ricordi and the conductor Franco Faccio, to dinner at their hotel. The talk was inevitably about opera and operatic subjects and when Ricordi mentioned Shakespeare and in particular 'Othello', Verdi cast a rather suspicious but nevertheless interested eye in Ricordi's direction. Ricordi was keen for for Verdi to collaborate with Arrigo Boito on an opera, and Verdi, with some reluctance, agreed to a meeting with Boito the following day.

At this time, Verdi was sixty six years old and Boito was thirty seven, almost half Verdi's age. Sixteen years earlier when Boito had been twenty one he had written a poem called 'All'Arte Italiana' which had referred disparagingly, even somewhat offensively towards Verdi. Verdi had not forgotten. Of course, with the passage of time Boito had matured and gained considerably in wisdom, establishing for himself a formidable reputation - he was a changed man and now one of Verdi's most enthusiastic admirers. Perhaps at this point it is appropriate to examine Boito rather more closely. The son of a painter of miniatures and a Polish Countess, Boito had had a wild youth and at one point had even fought a duel with the writer Giovanni Verga (Masgagni's inspiration for Cavalleria Rusticana) over a quarrel about Rossini and Meyerbeer. One of the greatest of Italian Wagnerians, Boito was twenty six when he wrote his own opera, 'Mefistofele' which was strongly influenced by Wagner. While it was initially a failure, he revised his work and it became a great success. Boito was regarded as the greatest authority on Shakespeare in Italy and, not least in importance, he was also the live-in companion of Eleanor Duse, venerated as one of the greatest actresses of the time. His forthcoming collaboration with Verdi would be the highlight of his career. Verdi was also to benefit from this partnership as being a composer himself, Boito fully understood Verdi's requirements as they progressed.

Verdi's meeting with Boito went well and three days later, Boito was able to offer a scenario for an opera to be based on 'Othello' so Verdi, without committing himself, encouraged Boito to write a complete libretto, noting that even if it did not suit him, it would no doubt come in useful for Boito himself or even some other composer. Verdi was not completely at ease with the situation and kept finding reasons for not reading the libretto in case he liked it and found himself committed to it. By the following year, Ricordi deviously devised a scheme for bringing Boito and Verdi closer together by suggesting that Verdi revise 'Simon Boccanegra' which had hardly ever been performed since its premiere in 1847. Both Verdi and Boito were willing and the revised work was performed at 'La Scala' in 1881. By this time the two men had warmed considerably towards each other and the creation of 'Otello' slowly began to take shape. In 1883, Verdi revised and shortened 'Don Carlo' which was produced at 'La Scala' in January, 1884. In March, the seventy year old Verdi at last began to seriously compose 'Otello'. He seemed to work in frenzied bursts of intense creativity interspersed with long bouts of uncertain inactivity but by October, 1885 he had finished composing and was about to begin scoring and revising. It was December, 1886 when 'Otello' was finished and rehearsals began on what the newspapers had for years been calling 'Iago'. The premiere took place at 'La Scala' in February, 1887 with great success although rehearsals had by no means run smoothly. The Iago was Victor Maurel who continually complained that he was voiceless, prompting Verdi to comment, "so long as Maurel can speak, I would rather he did Iago than anyone else." The part of Desdemona went to the rather non-descript Romilda Pantaleone, whose vocal qualities were not the only reason for engaging her. The conductor Franco Faccio as it happened, chanced to have a distinctly non-musical interest in the lady ! The title role was taken by the great Francesco Tamagno and even he did not not escape Verdi's exasperation which caused him to write to Faccio, expressing the hope that he might persuade Tamagno to sing "something approximating to what I have written." Everything did indeed come together on the opening night which was a glorious success; a complete triumph for the partnership of Boito and Verdi and it remains an outstanding operatic masterpiece.

Synopsis
Rather than set out the sequence of events in the conventional manner, I hope that I will be forgiven by the discerning readers of GRANDI-TENORI if I present this unique version:

SHORTENING OTELLO

The celebrated Austrian tenor, Leo Slezak, was singing 'Otello' at Houston Opera House and here he recounts how the programme set out the operatic entertainment for the evening. Slezak was aware that American Opera Houses had pioneered the exploitation of sponsorship and advertising but even the humourously quick-witted Slezak was unprepared for the way that CRISCO, a brand of Shortening (Baking fat) was brought to the attention of the audience:

OTELLO
Opera in four acts, by Giuseppe Verdi


Act 1
The people of Cyprus on their knees are praying for the safety of Otello, whose ship is fighting the elements. The danger passes, Otello arrives and greets the people with the words:

USE CRISCO, THE BEST SHORTENING

"Rejoice! The Turk is vanquished and drowned in the sea" The people hail Otello:

CRISCO IS UNSURPASSED

Iago, jealous of Cassio, who enjoys Otello's confidence, tries to render Cassio drunk. A drinking song:

CRISCO HAS NO RIVAL

is heard, and Cassio, by now quite drunk, attacks Montano. Otello rushes in and calls out:

CRISCO IS ECONOMICAL

"Down with your swords!" Cassio is being demoted. Desdemona, Otello's bride, appears in the doorway to the castle. Otello takes her hand and they sing a lovely duet:

CRISCO USERS ARE SATISFIED

which belongs to the best Verdi wrote, and is considered one of the pearls of operatic music.

And so it continued through to the finale.

After Otello has strangled Desdemona, he plunges his dagger into his breast, and dying, sings the touching phrase:

ASK ONLY FOR CRISCO, THE FAMOUS SHORTENING

"Kiss me, kiss me again!" He dies. End of the opera.

(This anecdote is printed in Matthew Boyden's The Rough Guide to Opera.)

the aria, the tenors · audio

Otello is perhaps the most difficult tenor role in all operatic writing of the 19th Century, comparable only with Tristan. It would be easy to say that all it needs is a "heldentenor" with a powerful and brilliant voice. Of course, that is the first requisite but what is in fact also needed is despair, irony, intimacy and madness following each other in rapid succession. Boito and Verdi made his character not "eroica" (heroic) but "cupo e terribile" (dark and dreadful). He starts off in full command of his heroic nature but it is heard less and less as the opera progresses and he joins with Iago in bringing about his own destruction and wrecking his own happiness.

Niun mi tema
Otello, military governor of Cyprus, has succumbed to the web of lies and deceit fed to him by the evil and jealous Iago.  Believing his wife Desdemona to have been unfaithful to him, he has strangled her, only to have the truth revealed to him as Iago flees.  Stunned and broken, the one time lion of Venice says no one need fear him.  "This is my journey's end."  In tender words, he speaks to the dead, faithful Desdemona then drawing a concealed dagger, he stabs himself.  With a final effort, he moves to Desdemona's bed and, dying, kisses her for the last time.

The Tenors:

(01) Torsten Ralf, recorded 1944.  I have included this performance by request, and why not?  Born Malmo, 1901; died Stockholm, 1954.  He had an international career, particularly successful as Lohengrin, Parsifal, Walther, Radames and Otello.

(02) Ramon Vinay, recorded in 1951 with Fausto Cleva conducting.  This recording introduced me to the character of Otello and fairly recently someone asked the question in Forum; "how good was he (or something like that)."  Well, for my money, he WAS  the definitive Otello, head and shoulders above his colleagues, but please form your own opinions.

(03) Mario del Monaco, recorded 1954.  Needs no introduction. We could not have this article without including him. This is from his first complete recording for Decca and while the conducting of Alberto Erede was the weak point, Del Monaco sang fractionally better than in his next complete recording with Karajan.

(04) Jon Vickers, recorded 1973.  Here is another masterly performance, portraying Otello as a truly bewildered and broken character.  I have always thought that Vickers had a unique tenorial timbre which made him immediately recognisable and his character portrayals have always been deeply thought out.  I saw him as Otello in 1963 (Peter Glossop as an equally imposing Iago) in a performance which would be unequalled anywhere.

(05) Placido Domingo, recorded 1978 with James Levinne conducting.  Domingo need no introduction and I find it strange that Grandi-Tenori commentators are ambivalent towards him.  He has been "the Otello" for the past thirty years and this account is major league stuff.  He will be remembered as a great Otello.

(06) Giuseppe Giacomini, recorded 1996.  This dramatic tenor, born Veggiano, 1940, is a revelation, rivalling Vinay in his interpretation.  The Baritonal quality of his voice fits Otello like a glove and every word, every nuance is delivered with absolute authority.  Giacomini has no problem with the ringing high notes, if anything, he tightens up slightly in controlling the volume but his technique is solid.  I find this a great performance.

· Audio ·
Giuseppe Verdi: Otello: Niun mi tema:

(01) Torsten Ralf (1944) » listen to audio | 1.28 mb
(02) Ramon Vinay (1951) » listen to audio | 1.30 mb
(03) Mario del Monaco (1954) » listen to audio | 1.09 mb
(04) Jon Vickers (1973) » listen to audio | 1.41 mb
(05) Plácido Domingo (1978) » listen to audio | 1.36 mb
(06) Giuseppe Giacomini (1996) » listen to audio | 1.23 mb

Mystery Voice:
(07) The Mystery Voice » listen to audio | 1.20 mb

Do you know who he is? - Answers can be sent during the next 30 days to:
quizz@grandi-tenori.com. (Ed.)

Note:
All audio compressed to Windows Media Audio 9.1, 32 kbps

· Lyrics ·

Otello

Niun mi tema
Let no one fear me
D'ancora armato mi vede. Ecco la fine
Though you see me armed, this is my
del mio cammin ... Oh! Gloria! Otello fu.
journey's end ... Oh! Glory! Otello is no more.
(lets fall his sword, looks at Desdemona)
E tu ... come sei pallida! e stanca, e muta, e bella.
and you ... how pale you are! and wan, and mute, and beautiful.
pia creatura nata sotto maligna stella.
good creature, born under an evil star.
fredda come la casta tua vita ... e in cielo assorta.
cold as the chastity of your life ... now gathered to the skies.
Desdemona! Desdemona! ... Ah ... morta! morta! morta.
Desdemona! Desdemona! ... Ah ......dead! dead! dead!
(draws a concealed dagger)
Ho un'arma ancor!
I still have another weapon!
Pria d'ucciderti ... sposa ... ti baciai.
Ere I killed you ... wife ... I kissed you.
Or morendo ... nell'ombra ... in cui mi giacio...
Now dying ... in the shadow ... where I lie ...
Un bacio ... un bacio ancora ... ah! ... un altro bacio ...
A kiss ... another kiss ... ah! ... and yet another kiss ...

Acknowledgements:

• The Illustrated encyclopedia of Opera (Stanley Sadie)
• Opera (Andras Batta)
• The Rough Guide to Opera (Matthew Boyden)
• Opera, a penguin anthology
• The concise oxford dictionary of Opera
• The complete operas of Verdi (Charles Osborne)
• Grandi-tenori editor Joern H Anthonisen
  Grandi-tenori deputy editor M.T. Anthonisen