[Met Performance] CID:260390



Otello
Metropolitan Opera House, Tue, February 5, 1980




Otello (246)
Giuseppe Verdi | Arrigo Boito
Otello
Richard Cassilly

Desdemona
Teresa Zylis-Gara

Iago
Sherrill Milnes

Emilia
Jean Kraft

Cassio
Frank Little

Lodovico
James Morris

Mont?no
John Darrenkamp

Roderigo
Charles Anthony

Herald
Gene Boucher


Conductor
James Levine







Review 1:

Review of Robert Jacobson in Opera News

"Otello" (Feb. 5) found Richard Cassilly in the title role and while he began somewhat wobbly in the sustained love duet, the rest had clarion ring. The perfect embodiment of the noble savage, he conveyed cyclonic force in his fortes and showed emotional power, enhanced by his larger-than-life presence. His portrayal sees the Moor clearly as the outsider, nervous and insecure. Even without a conventionally beautiful tenor and with rough attacks, the strength of his theatricality made it moving. With Milnes as Iago, there was subtlety and intensity in their scenes, building to the thunderous climax of the Act II duet. Teresa Zylis-Gara's sumptuous Desdemona, radiant of voice and personality (ah, just to see her smile!), remains the personification of the role, and Levine's leadership has kept "Otello" an extraordinary experience.



Search by season: 1979-80

Search by title: Otello,



Met careers