Otello
by Giuseppe Verdi

Name: Otello
Brand: Giuseppe Verdi
SKU: 9780714544113
Rating: 4.03 (50 reviews)

What readers are saying

Readers appreciate the powerful adaptation of Otello, highlighting its rich orchestration and thematic depth rooted in Shakespeare's work. Many find the exploration of complex emotions such as love and betrayal particularly compelling, with strong climaxes and varied musical textures enhancing the experience.

Powerful orchestration and themesStrong emotional depthVaried musical texturesSome found it too short

Synopsis

These Opera Guides are ideal companions to the opera.

They provide stimulating introductory articles together with the complete text of each opera in English and the original.

Winton Dean relates how Otello came into being as much because of the persistence of Verdi's publisher as of the composer's lifelong passion for Shakespeare, and the collaboration of the brilliant poet Arrigo Boito.

Benedict Sarnaker argues that this magnificent largescale opera rivals Shakespeare in intensity and profundity.

William Weaver's lively review of Shakespeare on the Italian stage in the last century enables us to make a wholly fresh appraisal of Verdi's stature as a dramatist.

The libretto itself is a masterpiece, and Andrew Porter has also translated the third-act revision which Verdi came to prefer and which has not been performed outside France before the 1981 ENO production.