[Met Performance] CID:210110



Otello
Metropolitan Opera House, Fri, April 14, 1967




Otello (176)
Giuseppe Verdi | Arrigo Boito
Otello
Jon Vickers

Desdemona
Gabriella Tucci

Iago
Gabriel Bacquier

Emilia
Nancy Williams

Cassio
Ermanno Lorenzi

Lodovico
Raymond Michalski

Montàno
Clifford Harvuot

Roderigo
Andrea Velis

Herald
Russell Christopher


Conductor
Zubin Mehta







Review 1:

Review of Conrad L. Osborne in the Financial Times

Continuation of his report from New York (See "Otello" March 7, 1967)

The second cast afforded a more interesting evening, one reason being that Mr. Mehta had by this time settled into the score somewhat, and was beginning to give it shape and pace. He is, potentially, a great opera conductor; one only wishes that his on-the-job-training could be undertaken at something less than Metropolitan prices. This cast (Gabriella Tucci, Jon Vickers, Gabriel Bacquier) worked much more as a unit than the first; there were interactions and relationships, so that a reasonable portion of the drama surfaced. It was especially refreshing to see a logical continuity between Otello and Desdemona. Tucci and Vickers departed from the production's blocking and improved upon it substantially.

Miss Tucci sang strongly and warmly, and was in every respect an improvement on her predecessor. Mr. Vickers, taking this role for the first time here, did some interesting things, but left the impression that Otello is not a congenial assignment for him. His singing was overcareful and unexciting, relying too heavily on

heady mezza-voce, and while his acting was controlled and intelligent (a special emphasis on Otello's efforts to compensate for inferiority feelings by being a Big Man), it only occasionally seemed spontaneous. Mr. Bacquier's Iago was a thoughtful, inventive characterization, supported by solid, dark-coloured singing. He is a superior artist.



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