Verdi: Otello (RAI, 1958)
 

Cast: Mario del Monaco (Otello), Renato Capecchi (Jago), Rosanna Carteri (Desdemona), Gino Mattera (Cassio), Luisella Ciaffi (Emilia), Athos Cesarini (Roderigo), Plinio Clabassi (Lodovico), Nestore Catalani (Montano); Orchestra and Chorus of RAI Milano, Tullio Serafin (conductor), Franco Enriquez (director)

Originally filmed in 1958 for RAI Radiotelevisione Italiana. First published in tape formats.

Reissued in 2002 in DVD format by Hardy Trading Company of Via Millelire 13, 20146 Milan, Italy (region 0 / NTSC, menus in Italian, subtitles in Italian, French, English, or none). Distributed in the USA by VAI (Video Artists International and VAI Audio) HCD4004

Technical Details:
Aspect Ratio: 4:3 Full frame - monochrome
Sound: PCM Digital Dolby - monaural

Running time: 136 minutes

Sung in Italian

Price $34.95 in the USA, and approximately 40 Euros in the EU.
 
There may be a half dozen, certainly no more than a dozen, opera videos which are essential to any well-stocked library. With this release, the last of my list has become available on DVD.
 
Like previous releases on tape, the DVD release from Hardy is derived from a release print. While contrast and brightness have been improved, digital editing has not extended to correction of flawed frames and occasional instability of frames. Audio has been improved but remains dynamically compressed and tonally limited. Lip sync is erratic but always distracting.
 
Never mind. Serafin's conducting is electric; del Monaco's Moor is a classic; Capecchi's Jago is conniving; Carteri's Desdemona is captivating. There is no detail of orchestra or voice beneath Serafin's notice, no aspect of the shape of the masterpiece left unexplored. With sound less compressed and less noisy than on previous releases, the musical values can be studied for pleasure as well as for insight - and the pleasure is remarkable. Carteri is lovely to see and to hear, presenting a simpler, less controlling wife than presented by some. Capecchi presents the 'ancient' as far more an intellectual than a fanatic villain. One fancies that one sees him planning each element of the scheme as the opportunity arises.
 
Of course, the opera hinges on the title character and del Monaco does not disappoint. He remains a towering figure even as he loses his strength to the deception; his fall is the collapse of a great edifice, not the crumbling of a fragile barrier. Even in the Act 1 duet, there is the impression that this Otello requires far more effort to restrain his might than to conquer his enemies or to celebrate his triumph. His is an anguished Otello, not a contemplative one; a barbarian restrained, not a gentleman provoked.
 
For those with excellent tape copies, the DVD release may not be necessary since it is not qualitatively superior. However, many will find the chapter stops (24 through the film) and subtitling options worth the modest cost and will be pleased with the small improvements in picture and sound. An insert of two pages in each of Italian and English provides background material on the film.
 
Related websites: Hardy Trading Company www.promart.it/Dischi/EtichDiHardy.html
VAI (Video Artists International and VAI Audio) www.vaimusic.com
Hardy Trading Company email: hardyclassic@tiscaline.net
 
Michael Richter, 11 July 2002
mrichter@cpl.net
 
See also Michael Richter's Introduction to the DVD, for a list of other reviews see the DVD Project page.