At The Opera, Verdi's Otello (1961), June 24, 2023
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Otello is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Shakespeare's play Othello. It was Verdi's penultimate opera, first performed at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, on February 5, 1887.
The composer was reluctant to write anything new after the success of Aida in 1871, and he retreated into retirement. It took his Milan publisher Giulio Ricordi the next ten years, first to encourage the revision of Verdi's 1857 Simon Boccanegra by introducing Boito as librettist and then to begin the arduous process of persuading and cajoling Verdi to see Boito's completed libretto for Otello in July/August 1881. However, the process of writing the first drafts of the libretto and the years of their revision, with Verdi all along not promising anything, dragged on. It wasn't until 1884, five years after the first drafts of the libretto, that composition began, with most of the work finishing in late 1885. When it finally premiered in Milan it proved to be a resounding success, and further stagings of Otello soon followed at leading theatres throughout Europe and America.
Cast:
Otello - Mario del Monaco
Desdemona - Renata Tebaldi
Jago - Aldo Protti
Cassio - Nello Romanato
Lodovico - Fernando Corena
Vienna State Opera Chorus
Vienna Philharmonic
Herbert von Karajan - conductor
8:00 p.m.
Pietro Mascagni
Cavalleria rusticana, opera Intemezzo
Czecho-Slovak Radio Symphony; Ondrej Lenard, conductor
8:14 p.m.
Mario del Monaco Tebaldi/Protti
Verdi
Otello
; Herbert von Karajan, conductor
10:37 p.m.
Puccini: Gianni Schicchi - "Oh! mio babbino caro" by Mirella Freni and Orchestra Del Gran Teatro La Fenice and Roberto Abbado
Puccini
Puccini: Gianni Schicchi - "Oh! mio babbino caro" by Mirella Freni and Orchestra Del Gran Teatro La Fenice and Roberto Abbado
10:39 p.m.
Verdi: La traviata / Act 1 - "Libiamo ne'lieti calici" (Brindisi) by Carlo Bergonzi & Dame Joan Sutherland & Coro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino & Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino & Sir John Pritchard
Verdi
Verdi: La traviata / Act 1 - "Libiamo ne'lieti calici" (Brindisi) by Carlo Bergonzi & Dame Joan Sutherland & Coro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino & Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino & Sir John Pritchard
10:42 p.m.
Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro, K.492 - Original version, Vienna 1786 - Act 3 - "Che soave zeffiretto" - "Piegato è il foglio..." by Lucia Popp & Barbara Hendricks & Academy of St. Martin in the Fields & Sir Neville Marriner
Mozart
Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro, K.492 - Original version, Vienna 1786 - Act 3 - "Che soave zeffiretto" - "Piegato è il foglio..." by Lucia Popp & Barbara Hendricks & Academy of St. Martin in the Fields & Sir Neville Marriner
10:45 p.m.
Mozart: Die Zauberflöte, K.620 / Act 2 - "Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen" by Sumi Jo & Wiener Philharmoniker & Sir Georg Solti
Mozart
Mozart: Die Zauberflöte, K.620 / Act 2 - "Der Hölle Rache kocht in meinem Herzen" by Sumi Jo & Wiener Philharmoniker & Sir Georg Solti
10:48 p.m.
Rossini: Il barbiere di Siviglia / Act 1 - "Largo al factotum" by Sherrill Milnes & London Philharmonic Orchestra & Silvio Varviso
Rossini
Rossini: Il barbiere di Siviglia / Act 1 - "Largo al factotum" by Sherrill Milnes & London Philharmonic Orchestra & Silvio Varviso
10:53 p.m.
Bizet: Carmen / Act 1 - "L'amour est un oiseau rebelle" (Havanaise) by Teresa Berganza & The Ambrosian Singers & London Symphony Orchestra & Claudio Abbado
Bizet
Bizet: Carmen / Act 1 - "L'amour est un oiseau rebelle" (Havanaise) by Teresa Berganza & The Ambrosian Singers & London Symphony Orchestra & Claudio Abbado
10:57 p.m.
Pietro Mascagni
Cavalleria rusticana, opera Intemezzo
Czecho-Slovak Radio Symphony; Ondrej Lenard, conductor
