Why performing Verdi's Otello ranks among opera's greatest challenges
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- Опубліковано 11 лип 2012
- Music Director, The Royal Opera Antonio Pappano introduces the music to Verdi's Otello with pianist Stephen Westrop and soprano Alexandra Deshorties (Desdemona).
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It is so amazing how Verdi could be so forward-thinking but yet still make the music beautiful.
Intensely Exciting !!! It is like being inside the opera itself , I wish I could have been present at the talks , Sir Antonio Pappano really brings opera to life !!!
Maestro Pappano is born for opera!! Thanks for sharing:))
The "kiss theme" is repeated three times - in three variations. Otello sings the first two but NOT the third; the orchestra plays what may be called: the "theme of the promised land", where the theme is resolved musically. In other words: Otello does not reach the "promised land". The same formula appears in the final scene of the opera. Verdi describes Otello's psychological/emotional Achille's Heel in musical terms. This is Verdi's real genius, his uncanny understanding of the human psyche and his ability to describe it in his music.
It isn't the simplicity or the complexity of the music that counts but rather the way the composer makes use of it. Here is where relative genius makes its appearance.
I just love Antonio's enthusiasm !
FANTASTIC interpretation!
Thanks for the many insights into Verdi's genius!
As much as I enjoyed the brief analysis of the opera's musical techniques, the "question" posed by the title is not addressed. Wishing it were answered.
The few, although brief, examples certainly suggests the challenges of the opera.
As an opera singer and instructor, I disagree. There is a difference between highlighting a few aspects of greatness and describing the challenges. That word, "challenges", is the rub. And I do actually think there are challenges setting this opera apart; but the video title misled, as those are not explained here.
@@jonathangoodman2636 it's just clickbait...
@@jonathangoodman2636 “The rub” being Hamlet 😉
It looks like a hurry in the last minute production, as if the Maestro and his crew had not had enough time to prepare ie coordinate properly.
Oh my gosh that was A-mazing! God knows I love the Royal Opera House and everything and one there. Just sensational talent, from both opera and dancing. Me personally I don't think I can sing but I am a dancer... And if there was a company I would join it be here-it's the only place in the world for me. This is long but just say I really appreciate the Royal Opera House
Bravo Maestro pappano!!!
So nice to hear this..
Hey Antonio, if Otello is that great how come you cut the Act 3 concertato and Act 2 chorus?
Maybe it was Domingo but I had the sense in the Zeffirelli film that Verdi failed to bring the full humanity of Othello, Shakespeare's one, to realization, one just despise him. from beginning to end.
Really ? Why ?
( i didn’t see it )
@@Sacha_Kudli he seemed such a selfagrandizing boor. Desdemona deserves so much better. Divine Riciarelli was well.. divine. And so very lovely. Domingo couldn't transcend his basic toxic masculinity. And Othello needed Shakespeare's profundity to rise above the unspeakable horror of his brutal injustice towards this loving angel.
@@Sacha_Kudli I trust that you have seen the Zeffirelli version by now. In any case, I agree that there were better movies than this one, but not because of Domingo's acting. Zeffirelli's arrogance, self-indulgence, and obsession with male beauty took precedence over Verdi's masterpiece. The Cassio character was played by an actor because Zeffirelli did not find a tenor "handsome enough." The actor was blond with a perfect body. La Traviata is another example of how Zeffirelli approached his work. He bleached Domingo's hair and beard (he had to do it a few times as the shooting took a while) with little regard for Domingo's busy schedule and his hair texture (curly). Why did Alfredo have to have light hair is a mystery to me. Domingo explained that his dark hair looked 'blue" on camera. Well, there are ways other than bleaching one's hair to fix its color's tone for the lighting. In the movie, Domingo's bleached and highlighted hair becomes frizzy a few times. Again, it exemplifies how Zeffirelli wasted time and talent to self-promote and perhaps self-soothe. Despite some of its flaws, Rosi's Carmen was one of the best operatic movies.
Pappano seems to believe the meaning of life is to glorify himself
You're so right. I cringe watching these videos and seeing how pretentious he is. He don't let the pianist play and even sings while the soprano is singing. Everything is about himself.
I totally disagree, it's just a mean interpretation of his enthusiasm.
@@davidvscalvim2836
He sings while the soprano is singing because the piece he's talking about is a duet between a soprano and the tenor... He's just singing parts of the tenor part.
@@davidvscalvim2836 Nonsense - he's the least pretentious opera maestro I've witnessed in such masterclasses - he and Kaufmann together are all passion and profound knowledge. You have failed to see his genius.