Verdi - Otello / Karajan, Vickers, Freni, Berlin Philharmonic
Verdi's Otello is a larger-than-life role, calling for a tenor of  Wagnerian vocal power and stage presence. In the late 20th century, two singers  fully met its specifications--Jon Vickers and Placido Domingo. Both were filmed  in video productions of unusual quality, and a choice between them boils down,  ultimately, to a question of personal taste. In this 1973 production, Vickers is  given an effective context to set off his powerful, carefully considered  characterization. Mirella Freni is an appealing Desdemona, Peter Glossop is a  credibly vicious Iago, and the cast is solid right down to the very young future  star Jose van Dam in a small supporting role. The chorus and orchestra rank with  the world's best.Herbert von Karajan's direction, musical and theatrical, is a source of both  strength and shortcomings. His power and prestige allowed him to assemble  stellar casts and to scoff at budget limitations. He was also able to take the  production beyond the opera house's visual limitations with on-location filming,  an opportunity that is exploited with powerful impact in the storm-at-sea scene  that opens thisOtello. His personal musical taste sometimes tended to  favor polish at the expense of expressive intensity. But he does present Verdi's  score intact, without the cuts made in the 1986 cinematic production directed by  Franco Zeffirelli and starring Domingo. Personally, I find the ZeffirelliOtellodramatically compelling, but Von Karajan's--orGeorg Solti's 1992 versionwith  Domingo and Kiri Te Kanawa--is closer to what Verdi had in mind.--Joe  McLellan