# Otello discography

This is a discography of Giuseppe Verdi's penultimate opera, Otello. It was first performed at La Scala, Milan, on 5 February 1887.
Otello has been recorded complete on disc and film a number of times since World War II, but most music-guide reviewers contend that a recording made of a 1947 NBC radio broadcast of the opera conducted by Arturo Toscanini and featuring singers Herva Nelli, Ramón Vinay and Giuseppe Valdengo, is musically the best of these versions. RCA Victor has issued the Toscanini recording several times on commercial LPs and on CD in digitally remastered form. In addition, performances of Otello were captured live as early as the 1920s (at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London) and the 1930s (at the Metropolitan Opera, New York City, the latter via the Metropolitan Opera radio broadcasts). They, too, are available on CD reissues. A wide variety of stage performances dating from the 1950s to the present day are also to be had on CD or on DVD.

## Audio and video recordings

| Year | Otello Desdemona Iago Cassio Emilia | Conductor Orchestra and chorus | Label |
| 1931–1932 | Nicola Fusati Maria Carbone Apollo Granforte Piero Girardi Tamara Beltacchi | Carlo Sabajno La Scala Orchestra and Chorus | CD: Preiser Records Cat: 20012 |
| 1938 | Giovanni Martinelli Elisabeth Rethberg Lawrence Tibbett Nicholas Massue Thelma Votipka | Ettore Panizza Metropolitan Opera orchestra and chorus | CD: Naxos Historical Cat: 8.111018-19 |
| 1941 | Giovanni Martinelli Stella Roman Lawrence Tibbett Alessio de Paolis Thelma Votipka | Ettore Panizza Metropolitan Opera orchestra and chorus | CD: Arkadia Cat: 50003 |
| 1944 | Torsten Ralf Hilde Konetzni Paul Schöffler Josef Witt Elena Nikolaidi | Karl Böhm Wiener Staatsoper orchestra and chorus Performed in German | CD: Myto Cat: MCD 922.60 |
| 1946 | Torsten Ralf Stella Roman Leonard Warren Alessio de Paolis Martha Lipton | George Szell Metropolitan Opera orchestra and chorus | CD: Walhall Cat: WLCD 0107 |
| 1947 | Ramón Vinay Herva Nelli Giuseppe Valdengo Virginio Assandri Nan Merriman | Arturo Toscanini NBC Symphony Orchestra and chorus | LP: RCA Victor Cat: LM-6107 Decca Cat: RB 16093-5 CD: RCA Victor Cat: 60302 |
| 1948 | Giovanni Martinelli June Haas-Kelly Cesare Bardelli John Carmen Rossi Mildred Ippolito | Giuseppe Bamboschek Orchestra and chorus of La Scala Opera | CD: Grammofono Cat: 2000 AB 78.935/36 |
| 1948 | Ramón Vinay Licia Albanese Leonard Warren John Garris Martha Lipton | Fritz Busch Metropolitan Opera orchestra and chorus | CD: Preiser Cat: 90377 |
| 1950 | Mario Del Monaco Delia Rigal Carlos Guichandut Eugenio Valori Emma Brizzi | Antonino Votto Teatro Colon orchestra and chorus | CD: Myto Cat: 004 H051 |
| 1951 | Ramón Vinay Carla Martinis Paul Schöffler Anton Dermota Sieglinde Wagner | Wilhelm Furtwängler Vienna Philharmonic and Wiener Staatsoper chorus | CD: EMI Cat: CMS 5 65751-2 |
| 1951 | Gino Sarri Anna La Polla Antonio Manca Serra Athos Cesarini Ada Landi | Alberto Paoletti Teatro dell'Opera di Roma | CD: Preiser Records Cat: 20031 |
| 1953-54 | Set Svanholm Aase Nordmo-Lovberg Sigurd Björling Arne Ohlson Bette Björling | Sixten Ehrling Kungliga Hovkapellet and chorus Performed in Swedish | CD: Preiser Cat: 90754 |
| 1954 | Mario Del Monaco Renata Tebaldi Leonard Warren Giuseppe Zampieri Anna Maria Canali | Antonino Votto La Scala | CD: Melodram Cat: CDM 270101 |
| 1954 | Mario Del Monaco Renata Tebaldi Aldo Protti Piero de Palma Luisa Ribacchi | Alberto Erede Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia orchestra and chorus | CD: Decca Cat: 440 245-2 |
| 1955 | Ramón Vinay Gré Brouwenstijn Otakar Kraus John Lanigan Noreen Berry | Rafael Kubelik Royal Opera House Chorus and Orchestra | CD: Royal Opera House Heritage Cat: ROHS 001 |
| 1958 | Mario Del Monaco Victoria de los Angeles Leonard Warren Paul Franke Rosalind Elias | Fausto Cleva Metropolitan Opera orchestra and chorus | CD: Pristine Cat: Paco154 |
| 1958 | Ramón Vinay Antonietta Stella Giuseppe Taddei Italo Pasini Zaira Negroni | Thomas Beecham Teatro Colón | CD: IDIS Cat: 6547/48 |
| 1959 | Mario Del Monaco Gabriella Tucci Tito Gobbi Mariano Caruso Anna Di Stasio | Alberto Erede NHK Symphony Orchestra and Chorus | CD: Opera d'Oro, OPD-1160. |
| 1960 | Mario Del Monaco Floriana Cavalli Tito Gobbi Agostino Lazzari Dora Minarchi | Franco Capuana Teatro dell'Opera di Roma | CD: Myto Cat: 00267 |
| 1960 | Jon Vickers Leonie Rysanek Tito Gobbi Florindo Andreolli Miriam Pirazzini | Tullio Serafin Rome Opera Orchestra and Chorus | LP: RCA Gold Seal Cat: AGL3-1969 CD: RCA Red Seal Cat: 8875196362 |
| 1961 | Mario Del Monaco Renata Tebaldi Aldo Protti Nello Romanato Ana Raquel Satre | Herbert von Karajan Wiener Philharmoniker and Wiener Staatsopernchor | CD: Decca Cat: 028941161826 |
| 1967 | James McCracken Montserrat Caballé Tito Gobbi Ermanno Lorenzi Shirley Love | Zubin Mehta Metropolitan Opera orchestra and chorus | CD: Living Stage Cat: LS 4035175 |
| 1968 | James McCracken Gwyneth Jones Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau Piero de Palma Anna Di Stasio | John Barbirolli Philharmonia Orchestra and Ambrosian Chorus | CD: EMI Cat: 65296 |
| 1973 | Jon Vickers Mirella Freni Peter Glossop Aldo Bottion Stefania Malagù | Herbert von Karajan Berliner Philharmoniker and Chor der Deutsche Oper Berlin | CD: EMI Cat: CMS 769 3082 |
| 1976 | Plácido Domingo Mirella Freni Piero Cappuccilli Giuliano Ciannella Jone Jori | Carlos Kleiber La Scala Orchestra and Chorus | CD: Opera d'Oro Cat: OPD 7005 |
| 1977 | Carlo Cossutta Julia Varady Piero Cappuccilli Benito Maresca Gudrun Wewezow | Carlos Kleiber Bayerische Staatsoper | CD: Golden Melodram Cat: GM 5.0061 |
| 1977 | Carlo Cossutta Margaret Price Gabriel Bacquier Peter Dvorsky Jane Berbié | Georg Solti Wiener Philharmoniker Wiener Staatsoperchor and Wiener Sängerknaben | CD: Decca Cat: 440-045-2 |
| 1978 | Plácido Domingo Renata Scotto Sherrill Milnes Paul Crook Jean Kraft | James Levine National Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus | LP: RCA Red Seal Cat: CRL3-2951 CD: RCA Red Seal Cat: 8883729722 |
| 1978 | Jon Vickers Renata Scotto Cornell MacNeil Frank Little Jean Kraft | James Levine The Metropolitan Opera | DVD: Met Opera Cat: 811357012185 |
| 1982 | Vladimir Atlantov Kiri Te Kanawa Piero Cappuccilli Antonio Bevacqua Flora Rafanelli | Zoltán Peskó Verona Arena | DVD: Warner Music Vision Cat: 4509 99214 2 |
| 1983 | Charles Craig Rosalind Plowright Neil Howlett Bonaventura Bottone Shelagh Squires | Mark Elder English National Opera Performed in English | CD: Chandos Cat: CHAN 3068 |
| 1986 | Plácido Domingo Katia Ricciarelli Justino Díaz Ezio di Cesare Petra Malakova | Lorin Maazel La Scala orchestra and chorus (Othello, film directed by Franco Zeffirelli.) | DVD: MGM Cat: 0 27616 88420 6 |
| 1987 | Plácido Domingo Anna Tomowa-Sintow Renato Bruson Kaludi Kaludov Margarita Lilowa | Zubin Mehta Choir and Orchestra of the Vienna State Opera | CD: Orfeo Cat: C698072I |
| 1991 | Giuseppe Giacomini Margaret Price Matteo Manuguerra Dino Di Domenico Martine Mahé | Alain Lombard Orchestra National Bourdeaux Aquitaine | CD: Forlane Cat: 216 774 |
| 1991 | Luciano Pavarotti Kiri Te Kanawa Leo Nucci Anthony Rolfe-Johnson Elzbieta Ardam | Georg Solti Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus | CD: Decca (London) Cat: 433 669-2 |
| 1992 | Plácido Domingo Kiri Te Kanawa Sergei Leiferkus Robin Leggate Claire Powell | Georg Solti Royal Opera House, Covent Garden Chorus and Orchestra | DVD: Kultur Video Cat: 0 32031 14929 8 |
| 1994 | Plácido Domingo Cheryl Studer Sergei Leiferkus Ramón Vargas Denyce Graves | Myung-whun Chung Opéra Bastille, Paris | CD: Deutsche Grammophon Cat: 439 805-2 |
| 1995 | Plácido Domingo Renée Fleming James Morris Richard Croft Jane Bunnell | James Levine Metropolitan Opera orchestra and chorus | DVD: Deutsche Grammophon Cat: 00440 073 0929 |
| 1996 | Nicola Martinucci Miriam Gauci Eduard Tumagian Mauricio Septien Mabel Perelstein | Alexander Rahbari Barcelona Symphony Orchestra and National Orchestra of Catalonia | CD: Koch Cat: DICD 929 435-6 |
| 2001 | Christian Franz Emily Magee Valery Alexeev Stephan Rügamer Katharina Kammerloher | Daniel Barenboim Berliner Staatsoper | DVD: ArtHaus Musik Cat: 100 347 |
| 2001 | Plácido Domingo Barbara Frittoli Leo Nucci Cesare Catani Rossana Rinaldi | Riccardo Muti La Scala orchestra and chorus | DVD: TDK Cat: 8 2412100019 6 |
| 2006 | José Cura Krassimira Stoyanova Lado Atanelli Vittorio Grigolo Ketevan Kemoklidze | Antoni Ros Marbà Orchestra and Chorus of Gran Teatro del Liceo | DVD: Opus Arte Cat: OA 0963D |
| 2008 | Aleksandrs Antonenko Marina Poplavskaya Carlos Álvarez Stephen Costello Barbara di Castri | Riccardo Muti Vienna Philharmonic Salzburg Festival | Blu-ray: Naxos Cat: 701504 |
| 2010 | Simon O'Neill Anne Schwanewilms Gerald Finley Allan Clayton Eufemia Tufano | Colin Davis London Symphony Orchestra and chorus | CD: LSO Live Cat: 0700 |
| 2013 | Aleksandrs Antoņenko Krassimira Stoyanova Carlo Guelfi Juan Francisco Gatell Barbara di Castri | Riccardo Muti Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus | CD: CSO Resound Cat: CSOR 901 1301 |
| 2014 | Robert Dean Smith Raffaella Angeletti Sebastian Catana Luis Dámasco Marifé Nogales | Friedrich Haider Oviedo Filarmonía | CD: Naxos Cat: 866035758 |
| 2015 | Aleksandrs Antoņenko Sonya Yoncheva Željko Lučić | Yannick Nézet-Séguin Metropolitan Opera (Recorded live 17 October) | Streaming video in HD: Met Opera on Demand |
| 2017 | Nikolai Schukoff Melody Moore Lester Lynch Jun Ho You Helena Zubanovich | Lawrence Foster Gulbenkian Orchestra and choir | CD: Pentatone Cat: PTC 5186562 |
| 2018 | Jonas Kaufmann, Maria Agresta Marco Vratogna | Antonio Pappano Orchestra and Chorus of the Royal Opera House Royal Opera House | Blu-ray: Sony Cat: 88985491969 |
| 2020 | Jonas Kaufmann, Federica Lombardi Carlos Álvarez Liparit Avetisyan Virginie Verrez | Antonio Pappano Chorus and Orchestra dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia | CD: Sony Cat:19439707932 |

## Extracts

Individual arias, duets and scenes from Otello have been committed to disc by many celebrated tenors, baritones and sopranos since acceptable audio technology was first developed in the early 20th century. The best of these recorded extracts have been reissued on CD and make for fascinating comparative listening. Recordings made in the early 1900s by the creators of the roles of Otello and Iago, namely Francesco Tamagno and Victor Maurel, are among those now available in digital formats.