Metropolitan Opera Archives

The season's first performance of Verdi's "Otello" at the Metropolitan Opera took place Saturday night, with Dimiter Uzunov in the title role. While he doesn't project the frenzied, cumulative madness which the American tenor, James McCracken, gives the part, he is immensely impressive on his own and, altogether, came out first of the major participants.

His excellent voice was freely resonant, he was handsome and convincingly swarthy, and as the acts progressed, developed a frightening mood of tension as he became increasingly brainwashed by Iago. His final death scene was superb. This was an actor's, not a singer's achievement, high praise for a tenor.

This was Thomas Schippers' first Met "Otello," and, for all his remarkable gifts, it sounded like it. Soprano Raina Kabaivanska was singing her first Desdemona here, and though she looked lovely and acted well, this role is not for her. With a voice too light in texture, it was necessary for her to force frequently which in turn put her off pitch,

Baritone Cornell MacNeil, on the other hand, in his first Met Iago, exhibited an ideal voice for the role. He should he singing it, though his debut here left much to be desired in characterization. His makeup, which conspired to make him look about as threatening as Dennis the Menace out on his first kill, was no help.

His acting, in general, struck a crack instead of a mine of malevolence. Any number of Shakespearean scholars have described Iago as all evil, but MacNeil hasn't found him yet. He should however, quickly, because, vocally he has every ingredient for the part. Joann Grillo, singing her first Met Emilia, brought a great deal of vivid vocalism and histrionic conviction to it.

The sold out house was a benefit for the Mizrachi Women's Organization of America.

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