--- product_id: 75221508 title: "Otello" price: "$88.29" currency: USD in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.ec/products/75221508-otello store_origin: EC region: Ecuador --- # Otello **Price:** $88.29 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Otello - **How much does it cost?** $88.29 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.ec](https://www.desertcart.ec/products/75221508-otello) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description On a sweltering night at London’s Royal Opera House in June 2017, Jonas Kaufmann made his debut performance in Verdi’s Otello - one of the most coveted and challenging roles in the tenor operatic repertoire. The Guardian commented on his performance: “Kaufmann thrills in a dark, expressionistic staging” and The Daily Mail concurred: “He is undoubtedly the most vocally and physically charismatic exponent of this role here since Domingo.” This new production by director Keith Warner presents a simultaneously modern and abstract approach to one of Verdi’s greatest operas. Review: Kaufmann's Otello, or Pappano's? Why not both? - In a review I posted recently about the Meier/Jerusalem/Barenboim Tristan und Isolde on DVD, I called it a tie between that opera and this one as to which is the greatest individual music drama ever composed (with the Ring Cycle, obviously, occupying its own stratum on the hierarchy). But a performance of Otello as brilliant as this one easily shifts the scales in Verdi’s direction, I have to say. Otello, despite the difficulty in singing the title role, is surprisingly well-represented on video, with two indispensable versions already available before this one (Solti from the Royal Opera House with Placido Domingo, and Levine at the Metropolitan Opera with John Vickers, in case you’re wondering), as well as a few close contenders. Well, we now have a third definitive performance, and in fact Antonio Pappano can now take his place among the great Otello conductors while Jonas Kaufmann stands comfortably beside Domingo and Vickers as one of the finest Otellos of recent decades. Let’s begin with the singers. One of the most talented dramatic tenors of modern times taking on one of the most storied and career-defining roles in the tenor repertoire is obviously big news, and, let’s face it, with his star power in the opera world, Kaufmann is obviously the main draw here for a lot of potential buyers. I had read reviews that said his singing was fine but his acting was a bit detached, so I prepared myself to be underwhelmed before slipping this disc into the player. Maybe those critics attended a different performance than this one, because I found nothing at all lacking in the man’s dramatic delivery. His is a more subtly manic Otello than you might see from other singers, sure, and yet I found his portrayal psychologically deft and never less than completely committed to the drama. As for his vocalism, well, I can understand his putting off assaying this role earlier in his career because it has such a reputation as a voice-killer, but the part really does match his tessitura exceptionally well. Kaufmann is often described as a baritonal tenor, and this helps him navigate the mercurial nature of Verdi’s vocal writing more adeptly than a lot of other singers. Ben Heppner once joked that the difficulty of singing Otello is overstated, that by the time you’re taking your curtain calls you’d still have another whole act of Tristan und Isolde to gut out. And yet the role nearly destroyed his voice. Kaufmann’s pipes are uniquely built for this particular part and as a result he should turn out to be a Moor of longstanding. Kaufmann is still fairly young which means he’s probably going to get even better the more he sings this part, provided he decides to make it a regular part of his repertoire, which is great news for Otello lover since he’s already most accomplished. Otello is basically a three-character chamber piece, well, maybe four characters if you count the chorus, and the other major performers are quite good as well. Sonya Yoncheva is probably the best contemporary Desdemona that I know of, but if one forgets for a moment the fact that she’s so closely associated with this role then soprano Maria Agresta is actually a fine Desdemona in her own right. Her voice is lovely and gets stronger throughout the opera, culminating in the ensemble that closes the third act, one of the greatest dramatic pieces of music in all opera, and later in the Willow Song and Ave Maria. During the former she sings the word salce as if it’s a mantra meant to calm her tortured misgivings, while the latter becomes an orison of incredible sadness and ethereality. What she has going for her are a more Italianate voice than Yoncheva (well, she is Italian after all) and an innate sweetness that makes the character’s incomprehension of discord all the more convincing. As for Iago, I was disappointed upon reading that Ludovic Tezier was supposed to make his debut in this role but then backed out, because he is such a dynamic performer. But after experiencing Marco Vratogna’s rendition I haven’t the slightest inkling of regret. Visually he’s an ideal Iago with his shaved head and malevolent features and athletic physique. As for the vocal and dramatic elements, he presents a formidable foil for Otello’s easily manipulated naivete, in other words not an Iago you’d want to encounter in a dark alley. Even before James Levine stepped down from the podium at the Met you could have made a case that Antonio Pappano and Daniel Barenboim were the two greatest contemporary conductors of opera, but now with Levine out of the picture I don’t think there’s any question. Pappano is known for his allegiance to both traditional opera (the Italian repertoire in particular) as well as modern works, and here he brings the best of both worlds to his interpretation. This is appropriate since Otello really is a nearly perfect fusion of the old and the new, with parts of it even today sounding as if they might have been composed only recently. The orchestral writing is as psychologically true as Wagner’s though more subtle, less pronounced - for instance the music that opens the third act is among the most impressive orchestral pieces in all opera, yet it lasts only a couple of minutes, whereas Wagner likely would have stretched it out for five, and even ten - and Pappano has an almost spiritual affinity with the meaning, and impact, of each and every note. I don’t think I’ve ever heard this score performed better, but of course the Royal Opera House orchestra deserves a lot of the credit for their clean and incisive playing and how attuned they are with the vocalists. And the ROH chorus under William Spaulding continues to impress as one of the best in the world. Like the Met’s current production, Keith Warner’s Otello is minimalist, and rather dark but with moments of light. Like the opera itself it’s a mixture of the traditional and modern. At times it seems as if what we’re seeing is a play within a play, which makes perfect sense considering that the events as they play out are all scripted ahead of time by the villainous Iago. This is a production that takes seriously the events and relationships of the opera and doesn’t try to shock the audience with any outre effects. There is one scene where Otello is playing with toy boats that looks a bit silly, but I interpreted this as the character plotting out military strategies and accepted it as appropriate to the text. On the whole, I’d say this is a production the folks at Covent Garden should consider keeping around for a long time. In conclusion, this performance is going to be considered by many as Jonas Kaufmann’s Otello, but in fact it belongs just as much to Antonio Pappano and his orchestra. Even if you already own a number of Otellos on Blu-ray and DVD, as I do, I recommend making room on your shelf for one more. If any opera deserves to be represented by multiple versions in a connoisseur’s collection, it’s this one, according to Joseph Kerman one of the most perfect music dramas ever composed. And if any recent performance of Otello deserves to take its place alongside the established classics, it’s this one. Enjoy! Review: Five Stars - Jonas Kaufmann's voice is magnificent Eva Vencl ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | ASIN | B07BF2PQHM | | Actors | Jonas Kaufmann | | Aspect Ratio | 1.77:1 | | Best Sellers Rank | #99,664 in Movies & TV ( See Top 100 in Movies & TV ) #69,462 in DVD | | Customer Reviews | 4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars (214) | | Item model number | 32199835 | | Language | Italian (DTS 5.1), Italian (PCM Stereo) | | MPAA rating | NR (Not Rated) | | Media Format | NTSC | | Number of discs | 1 | | Product Dimensions | 0.7 x 7.5 x 5.4 inches; 4.48 ounces | | Release date | June 22, 2018 | | Run time | 2 hours and 37 minutes | | Studio | Masterworks | ## Product Details - **Contributor:** Jonas Kaufmann, Verdi - **Format:** NTSC - **Genre:** Classical / Opera & Vocal - **Language:** Italian, Italian - **Runtime:** 2 hours and 37 minutes ## Images ![Otello - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71MxWn+x7lL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Kaufmann's Otello, or Pappano's? Why not both? *by C***R on July 8, 2018* In a review I posted recently about the Meier/Jerusalem/Barenboim Tristan und Isolde on DVD, I called it a tie between that opera and this one as to which is the greatest individual music drama ever composed (with the Ring Cycle, obviously, occupying its own stratum on the hierarchy). But a performance of Otello as brilliant as this one easily shifts the scales in Verdi’s direction, I have to say. Otello, despite the difficulty in singing the title role, is surprisingly well-represented on video, with two indispensable versions already available before this one (Solti from the Royal Opera House with Placido Domingo, and Levine at the Metropolitan Opera with John Vickers, in case you’re wondering), as well as a few close contenders. Well, we now have a third definitive performance, and in fact Antonio Pappano can now take his place among the great Otello conductors while Jonas Kaufmann stands comfortably beside Domingo and Vickers as one of the finest Otellos of recent decades. Let’s begin with the singers. One of the most talented dramatic tenors of modern times taking on one of the most storied and career-defining roles in the tenor repertoire is obviously big news, and, let’s face it, with his star power in the opera world, Kaufmann is obviously the main draw here for a lot of potential buyers. I had read reviews that said his singing was fine but his acting was a bit detached, so I prepared myself to be underwhelmed before slipping this disc into the player. Maybe those critics attended a different performance than this one, because I found nothing at all lacking in the man’s dramatic delivery. His is a more subtly manic Otello than you might see from other singers, sure, and yet I found his portrayal psychologically deft and never less than completely committed to the drama. As for his vocalism, well, I can understand his putting off assaying this role earlier in his career because it has such a reputation as a voice-killer, but the part really does match his tessitura exceptionally well. Kaufmann is often described as a baritonal tenor, and this helps him navigate the mercurial nature of Verdi’s vocal writing more adeptly than a lot of other singers. Ben Heppner once joked that the difficulty of singing Otello is overstated, that by the time you’re taking your curtain calls you’d still have another whole act of Tristan und Isolde to gut out. And yet the role nearly destroyed his voice. Kaufmann’s pipes are uniquely built for this particular part and as a result he should turn out to be a Moor of longstanding. Kaufmann is still fairly young which means he’s probably going to get even better the more he sings this part, provided he decides to make it a regular part of his repertoire, which is great news for Otello lover since he’s already most accomplished. Otello is basically a three-character chamber piece, well, maybe four characters if you count the chorus, and the other major performers are quite good as well. Sonya Yoncheva is probably the best contemporary Desdemona that I know of, but if one forgets for a moment the fact that she’s so closely associated with this role then soprano Maria Agresta is actually a fine Desdemona in her own right. Her voice is lovely and gets stronger throughout the opera, culminating in the ensemble that closes the third act, one of the greatest dramatic pieces of music in all opera, and later in the Willow Song and Ave Maria. During the former she sings the word salce as if it’s a mantra meant to calm her tortured misgivings, while the latter becomes an orison of incredible sadness and ethereality. What she has going for her are a more Italianate voice than Yoncheva (well, she is Italian after all) and an innate sweetness that makes the character’s incomprehension of discord all the more convincing. As for Iago, I was disappointed upon reading that Ludovic Tezier was supposed to make his debut in this role but then backed out, because he is such a dynamic performer. But after experiencing Marco Vratogna’s rendition I haven’t the slightest inkling of regret. Visually he’s an ideal Iago with his shaved head and malevolent features and athletic physique. As for the vocal and dramatic elements, he presents a formidable foil for Otello’s easily manipulated naivete, in other words not an Iago you’d want to encounter in a dark alley. Even before James Levine stepped down from the podium at the Met you could have made a case that Antonio Pappano and Daniel Barenboim were the two greatest contemporary conductors of opera, but now with Levine out of the picture I don’t think there’s any question. Pappano is known for his allegiance to both traditional opera (the Italian repertoire in particular) as well as modern works, and here he brings the best of both worlds to his interpretation. This is appropriate since Otello really is a nearly perfect fusion of the old and the new, with parts of it even today sounding as if they might have been composed only recently. The orchestral writing is as psychologically true as Wagner’s though more subtle, less pronounced - for instance the music that opens the third act is among the most impressive orchestral pieces in all opera, yet it lasts only a couple of minutes, whereas Wagner likely would have stretched it out for five, and even ten - and Pappano has an almost spiritual affinity with the meaning, and impact, of each and every note. I don’t think I’ve ever heard this score performed better, but of course the Royal Opera House orchestra deserves a lot of the credit for their clean and incisive playing and how attuned they are with the vocalists. And the ROH chorus under William Spaulding continues to impress as one of the best in the world. Like the Met’s current production, Keith Warner’s Otello is minimalist, and rather dark but with moments of light. Like the opera itself it’s a mixture of the traditional and modern. At times it seems as if what we’re seeing is a play within a play, which makes perfect sense considering that the events as they play out are all scripted ahead of time by the villainous Iago. This is a production that takes seriously the events and relationships of the opera and doesn’t try to shock the audience with any outre effects. There is one scene where Otello is playing with toy boats that looks a bit silly, but I interpreted this as the character plotting out military strategies and accepted it as appropriate to the text. On the whole, I’d say this is a production the folks at Covent Garden should consider keeping around for a long time. In conclusion, this performance is going to be considered by many as Jonas Kaufmann’s Otello, but in fact it belongs just as much to Antonio Pappano and his orchestra. Even if you already own a number of Otellos on Blu-ray and DVD, as I do, I recommend making room on your shelf for one more. If any opera deserves to be represented by multiple versions in a connoisseur’s collection, it’s this one, according to Joseph Kerman one of the most perfect music dramas ever composed. And if any recent performance of Otello deserves to take its place alongside the established classics, it’s this one. Enjoy! ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Five Stars *by E***L on July 26, 2018* Jonas Kaufmann's voice is magnificent Eva Vencl ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Pappano/Warner ROH 2017 Otello on SONY *by N***ן on June 23, 2018* Once upon a time, and a very good time it was, conductors shaped the tempos and singers had to follow. There were always exceptions, of course. If a great Diva like Callas needed to slow down in her second, 1960 studio Norma because her agility was not what it used to be, Serafin slowed down. However, increasingly from the 70's on conductors stamped performances by their choice of tempos, broad for Karajan, hectic for Levine and Muti in early Verdi; Bernstein's famously crawling Tristan. This is a generalization and simplification, viewed from the perspective of today's situation. The present release is an example of the challenges facing conductors today more often than in the past: support a singer in need or lose them. Kaufmann singing Otello: I hear an overparted lyric compensating astutely with all of his resources, and the support of the most skilled conductor to handle such a challenge: Pappano. Kaufmann has a 4-cylinder engine for a role that requires 8 cylinders. Yes, he has a very baritonal timbre, but this is a most unusual case that I don't think has precedents in the history of recorded singers: baritonal though he is, he is a lyric, the voice has no metal, no ping, projects poorly. Microphones love voices like this, that do not project so much. OTOH Kaufmann has superb stamina; a very long breath - he can hold a legato line from here to Stalingrad; first class breath control (hence astounding soft singing, ability to shade and vary dynamics) as well as very intelligent phrasing, not to mention looks, charisma, and some acting skills. How do you use these considerable assets to compensate for inadequate power in the heaviest role in the Verdi canon? You basically slow down and stretch the phrases long enough to leave an impression and some semblance of an impact with the rest of your assets. A mental image of Otello's musical footprint conjures auditory images of a heroic tenor loudly battling a frenzied orchestra. It is surprising how much of the score is written with the orchestra skillfully suppressed, bel-canto like, during solo singing. Kaufmann takes full advantage of this by soft singing anywhere he can, pushing to forte only minimally, thus creating a large amplitude, that has some impact and leaves some impression, in lieu of true volume. Kaufmann always requires broad tempi to sing comfortably, but here he requires them to survive the role, and Pappano obliges astutely. There are a few spots where Pappano cannot oblige so much, like in "Si, pel ciel marmoreo giuro!" that ends act II and see and (better) watch what happens: the effort is way too much for Kaufmann. There are other conductors who indulge Kaufmann's need for broad tempos, but no conductor in the world manages this particular challenge better than Pappano. He faced a somewhat similar challenge with Simon Keenlyside in the 2011 ROH Macbeth released on Opus Arte. Keenlyside is no more qualified to sing Macbeth than Kaufmann is to sing Otello, but like Kaufmann, he has a somewhat similar balance of assets and deficits: a lyric with the volume to match, but with stamina and long breath. Pappano was able to build a superb reading around Keenlyside's needs and assets by adjusting his tempos and providing power and energy elsewhere. He succeeded in embedding the custom-tailored pacing of the challenged singer in a rhythmic framework where it doesn't stick out, by defining it from the outset as a varied pacing that goes back and forth from slow, deliberate and emphatic pacing to manic, hectic pacing (and back), dramatically meaningful, with fascinating results for all, and without calling attention to himself. This as opposed to just lazy slowing down like other conductors. His pacing breathes with the singers' in the challenging measures very accurately down to a beat. I doubt Keenlyside would have been able to touch this role in a house like the ROH without Pappano. Pappano uses the same approach in this Otello, accommodating Kaufmann but providing power and energy (and speeding up) whenever he can elsewhere. However, the results are different this time, because the tenor role's demands are more extreme. Kaufmann requires and gets an indulgent tugging of the tempos to the point that the overall balance of the score is distorted. You cannot build Otello on pure intelligence and style, there is a built-in need for raw power. Moreover, this refinement and emasculation of the tenor's role and by extension of the score affects many other artistic and aesthetic choices and results in a somewhat bland outcome. If I have to watch Otello in 4 sessions because the performance doesn't hold my attention long enough something is wrong. Yannick Nézet-Séguin was faced with the same challenge in the Met 2015 Otello with Željko Lučić's underpowered Iago, with even blander results, because, to my ears, the singer, who was by then an established Verdi baritone at The MET, challenged the newcomer to the MET (YNS) passive-aggressively not only by under-singing but also by dragging the tempos almost provocatively: YNS was not established enough to fight him. Any tempo fight where the conductor forges ahead irrespective of the singer's slowing would have resulted in a fiasco that would have been blamed on YNS. These are not facts, this is what I hear. 20 years ago I would not have paid attention to such things and if you pointed them out to me I would think you are full of it. Interestingly, Kaufmann has the opposite problem than José Cura, particularly in Otello: Cura has the volume but his stamina and breath are short. He has to spit out quick, sloppily shaped phrases which he can pass off as highly charged singing. There is a comic moment on the Liceu blu-ray of the 2006 Otello where the tenor is supposed to end act II together with the baritone in "Si, pel ciel marmoreo giuro!" They are supposed to sing this together, but Cura barks the text and finishes the last phrase "Dio vendicator!" like 2 seconds before the baritone Lado Atanelli, and this in a performance that was already well rehearsed and it's not opening night. I don't know how anyone can find any fault with baritone Marco Vratogna's Iago, who took over the role with just 3-weeks advance notice. He sounds perfect to my ears - a real baritone, a real dramatic baritone, a real Verdi baritone (an almost extinct species), beautiful tone, sings on the breath, has the charisma for the role of a villain - the total package. Who would you rather hear instead today, the ex-tenor? The Serb? Falk Struckmann? Carlos Álvarez? Lucio Gallo maybe? Give me a break (and count your lucky stars that we have Marco Vratogna) - this is directed at the bitching online. As to trills, when was the last time anyone heard a Iago trilling? Actually, IIRC Carlo Guelfi trilled in his MET 2004 Iago, but hardly anyone noticed and there was bitching online anyway. Agresta is prosaic and director Keith Warner should have spent more time with the singers, directing their every movement and posture. Kaufmann seems to have been left to manage on his own; his acting style is too realistic and casual for this concept. We now have 9 Otellos on blu-rays (I'm not counting DVD's): Domingo at La Scala, Cura at the Liceu and at Salzburg, Antonenko at Salzburg and at the MET, Botha, Kunde, Stuart Neill and this one. The only ones I return to are Antonenko in Salzburg for Muti and Cura at the Liceu despite their shortcomings. But I will go down to my grave clutching Mario Del Monaco's 1959 performance in Tokyo on a VAI DVD. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.ec/products/75221508-otello](https://www.desertcart.ec/products/75221508-otello) --- *Product available on Desertcart Ecuador* *Store origin: EC* *Last updated: 2026-04-28*