ROSSINI: Otello.(Review)

ROSSINI: Otello [] Ratiani, Ciofi, Vivian; Edwards, Bonfatti, Kang; Bratislava Chamber Choir, Orchestra Internazionale d'Italia, Arrivabeni. Text and translation. Dynamic CDS 369/1-3 (3) (Qualiton, dist.)

In the nineteenth century, Rossini's Otello was performed nearly as often as his Barbiere di Siviglia, but nowadays it is so rarely given that people will even drive out to Westchester to hear this monumental work. It is a casting nightmare, requiring three star-quality tenors for the roles created in 1816 by the great Andrea Nozzari (Otello), the much-celebrated Giovanni David (Rodrigo) and Neapolitan favorite Giuseppe Ciccimarra (Iago), in addition to three comprimario tenors in the roles of Lucio, the Doge and the Act III gondolier. One alternative to finding six tenors, adopted by conductor Paolo Arrivabeni at the Martina Franca Festival in 2000 and recorded live for Dynamic, is to present a version based on 1831 performances in Paris, in which Maria Malibran sang the role of Otello en travesti. Never mind that Le Figaro called her performance "ridiculous" and Chopin claimed she was "not very good" in the role; Giuditta Pasta had portrayed the Moor two years earlier in London, and Malibran went her one better, alternating in the roles of Otello and Desdemona and accompanying herself on the harp for the willow song.

Role-swapping, aria-stealing and inserting signature tunes from other works was common practice throughout the nineteenth century, and it is fitting that modern-day performances are gradually beginning to reflect this important aspect of historical presentation. On the down side, one fascinating element lost in this "Malibran version" is the opportunity to hear and compare the tenors in various combinations. In Act I, the villain, Iago, draws Rodrigo into a duet of alliance (here Iago is appropriately brighter and snarlier than the warm and amorous Rodrigo), and in the next act Otello and Iago go at each other, until finally Rodrigo and Otello have a full-out duet/duel, replete with staggering coloratura, rangy leaps, vocal swordplay and competing high Ds. When all three roles are sung by tenors, these different combinations instigate vocal and theatrical competition of the highest order. With a treble-voiced Otello, the effect is quite different, and not so ...