What is Otello?
{{italictitle}} '''''Otello''''' is an [[Italy|Italian]] [[opera]] in four acts by [[Giuseppe Verdi]]. The [[libretto]] is by Arrigo Boito, based on [[William Shakespeare]]'s play ''[[Othello]]''. It was first performed at ''[[La Scala]]'' in [[Milan]] on February 5, 1887. The work is widely regarded as one of the greatest of music-dramas. Famous interpreters of the role have included [[Mario Del Monaco]], [[Jon Vickers]] and [[Placido Domingo]]. ==Principal characters== * Otello - [[tenor]] * Desdemona - [[soprano]] * Iago - [[baritone]] * Lodovico - [[bass (vocal range)|bass]] ==Discography== * 1931-32: Nicola Fusati (Otello), Maria Carbone (Desdemona), Apollo Granforte (Iago), Corrado Zambelli (Lodovico); Coro e Orchestra del Teatro alla Scala di Milano, Carlo Sabajno - (Arkadia) * 1947: Ramón Vinay (Otello), Herva Nelli (Desdemona), Giuseppe Valdengo (Iago), Nicola Moscona (Lodovico); NBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, [[Arturo Toscanini]] - (RCA Victor) * 1951: Ramón Vinay (Otello), Dragica Martinis (Desdemona), Paul Schöffler (Iago), Josef Greindl (Lodovico); Chor der Wiener Staatsoper, Wiener Philharmoniker, [[Wilhelm Furtwängler]] - (EMI Classics) * 1954: [[Mario Del Monaco]] (Otello), [[Renata Tebaldi]] (Desdemona), Aldo Protti (Iago), Fernando Corena (Lodovico); Orchestra e Coro dell'Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, Alberto Erede - (Decca) * 1960: [[Jon Vickers]] (Otello), Leonie Rysanek (Desdemona), Tito Gobbi (Iago), Ferruccio Mazzoli (Lodovico); Coro e Orchestra del Teatro dell'Opera di Roma, Tullio Serafin - (RCA Victor) * 1961: Mario Del Monaco (Otello), Renata Tebaldi (Desdemona), Aldo Protti (Iago), Fernando Corena (Lodovico); Wiener Staatsoperchor, Wiener Philharmoniker, [[Herbert von Karajan]] - (Decca) * 1968: James McCracken (Otello), Gwyneth Jones (Desdemona), [[Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau]] (Iago), Alfredo Giacomotti (Lodovico); Ambrosian Opera Chorus, New Philharmonia Orchestra, John Barbirolli - (EMI Classics) * 1974: Jon Vickers (Otello), [[Mirella Freni]] (Desdemona), Peter Gloss