Jon Vickers (Otello), Cornell MacNeil (Iago), Renata Scotto (Desdemona), Raymond Gibbs (Cassio), Andrea Velis (Rodrigo), James Morris (Lodovico), Robert Goodloe (Montano), Jean Kraft (Emilia), Arthur Thompson (Un Araldo)
“Call it old-fashioned, but there’s a size and style about this 1978 Met performance of Verdi’s opera that you don’t get today. Otello was one of Vickers’s signature roles, and he is partnered by the hugely watchable Renata Scotto and the big-boned Iago of Cornell MacNeil.”
January 2012
“Vickers appears as if he's ripping his own heart out. His wounds are so deep that one is tempted to avert one's eyes...Yet 90 per cent of the time he is on top of his vocal game: the sheer heft of his voice...is terrifying...Scotto interprets Desdemona as no other singer...here Desdemona is a woman of strength who can't win...this may be the only Otello video you'll ever need: it's the one that captures the pity and sadness best”
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