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4:06 PM
recently seen this handkerchief in Cassio’s hand.
£ Otello is roused to jealous fury and swears
vengeance. Iago kneels beside him and vows to assist
him.
CD 2
1 Opening announcement
2 Spoken synopsis of Act III
Act III: The great hall of the castle
3 There is an orchestral introduction.
4 A Herald announces that the galley bringing the
Venetian ambassadors has been sighted. Otello
acknowledges this, but continues talking to Iago. Iago is
planning to lure Cassio into the hall and into talking
about Desdemona.
5 Desdemona enters and once more tries to persuade
Otello to reinstate Cassio. Again claiming to have a
headache he asks Desdemona for the handkerchief
which he gave her. When she is unable to produce it, he
becomes violent, accuses her of adultery despite her
protestations of innocence, and forces her out of the
hall.
6 Alone he reflects on his misery. Iago enters and
makes Otello hide behind a pillar.
7 Cassio enters and Iago banters with him about the
whore Bianca, but Otello believes them to be talking
about Desdemona. Encouraged by Iago, Cassio
produces the handkerchief which Iago had earlier
planted in his room, and Iago ensures that Otello sees it.
8 While Cassio and Iago admire the handkerchief,
Otello believes it to reveal treachery. A trumpet
announces the arrival of the Venetian galley and Cassio
leaves.
9 A distraught Otello decides to kill Desdemona by
poison but Iago suggests smothering her instead. Otello
pronounces Iago his captain.
Page 8
0 The Venetian ambassador, Lodovico, Desdemona,
Emilia and the court enter. Lodovico hands Otello a
message from the Doge. While reading it, Otello
continues to mutter bitter asides at Desdemona. He has
been recalled to Venice and Cassio appointed in his
place. While announcing that he will set sail the
following morning, he flings Desdemona to the ground.
! Desdemona sings of her misery, and in the ensuing
ensemble Iago promises Otello that he will kill Cassio.
Otello dismisses the court and curses Desdemona. At
this point alone except for Iago, Otello succumbs to a fit
of epilepsy. As Otello lies prostrate on the floor, Iago
mocks the fallen Lion of Venice.
@ Spoken synopsis of Act IV
Ramón Vinay • Herva Nelli • Giuseppe Valdengo
NBC Symphony Orchestra and Choruses
Recorded in 1947
# Emilia helps Desdemona to prepare for bed.
$ Desdemona sadly recalls a song of unrequited love
sung by her mother’s servant, Barbara, the Willow
song.
% She gives a ring to Emilia, says farewell to her, prays
to the Virgin Mary, and goes to bed.
^ Otello enters, places his sword by a lamp, uncertain
whether or not to extinguish it. He looks at Desdemona
and puts out the light. He kisses the sleeping
Desdemona three times – on the third kiss she awakes.
He taunts her with her alleged infidelity with Cassio,
which she vehemently denies. Otello tells her that
Cassio is dead. Shocked, Desdemona pleads for her life
but to no avail: Otello strangles her.
& Emilia immediately enters with the news that Cassio
has killed Roderigo. Desdemona calls weakly from her
bed, and dies. Emilia cries for help and Lodovico,
Cassio, Iago, and Montano enter. Iago is challenged by
Emilia, and his plotting revealed: he flees.
* Completely broken, Otello draws his dagger and
stabs himself as he seeks a final kiss from the body of
Desdemona.
8
ADD
8.111320-21
VERDI
Otello
Arturo Toscanini
Act IV: Desdemona’s chamber
Keith Anderson
8.111320-21
Great Opera Performances
2 CDs
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4:06 PM
Page 2
Great Opera Performances
# Spoken synopsis of Act II
CD 1
Act II: A hall on the ground floor of the castle,
separated from the garden by a glass-paneled door
1 Opening announcement
2 Spoken synopsis of Act 1
Giuseppe
Act I: A seaport with a castle in Cyprus during the
fifteenth century
VERDI
(1813-1901)
3 A storm is raging. A crowd watches anxiously as the
ship of Otello, the Governor of Cyprus and a Moor, tries
to reach the shelter of the harbour.
4 The ship enters port safely and Otello exultantly
makes his triumphant entry. He announces his most
recent military victory, before entering the castle
accompanied by his lieutenant, Cassio. The crowds
salute Otello as their leader. Iago, Otello’s ensign, tells
Roderigo (who has travelled from Venice because of his
love for Otello’s wife Desdemona and whom Iago has
promised to help to gain her) how he hates Otello for
promoting Cassio over him.
5 The crowds create a bonfire to celebrate.
6 Cassio is persuaded to drink by Iago.
7 Iago knows that Cassio cannot hold his liquor, and
encourages a brawl between him and Roderigo.
8 Montano, Otello’s predecessor as Governor of
Cyprus, enters to call Cassio to his duty as the captain of
the guard, and is shocked to see him drunk. Cassio
draws his sword against Montano. Iago sends Roderigo
off to raise a general alarm.
9 With the fighting at its height and the alarm bells
tolling, Otello enters and demands to know how the
quarrel has arisen. Iago disingenuously suggests that
Cassio is to blame. Aroused by the noise, Desdemona
enters. Otello angrily tells Cassio that he is no longer his
lieutenant. The crowd disperses.
0 Otello turns to Desdemona and tells her how, like the
night, his love for her banishes thoughts of violence.
! The two recall the growth of their love for each
other.
@ Otello is carried away by the intensity of the moment
and seeks a kiss from Desdemona. They embrace and
slowly enter the castle.
Otello
Lyric Drama in 4 Acts • Libretto by Arrigo Boito (from Shakespeare)
Otello . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ramón Vinay
Desdemona . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Herva Nelli
Iago . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Giuseppe Valdengo
Cassio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Virginio Assandri
Emilia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nan Merriman
Roderigo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Leslie Chabay
Lodovico . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nicola Moscona
Montàno . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Arthur Newman
NBC Symphony Orchestra and Choruses
Arturo Toscanini
Acts I & II broadcast on 6 December, 1947
Acts III & IV broadcast on 13 December, 1947
Announcer: Ben Grauer
Thanks to Eugene S. Pollioni
8.111320-21
Synopsis
2
7
$ Cassio and Iago have been conversing and Iago
assures Cassio that he will regain Otello’s esteem,
especially if he asks Desdemona to intercede on his
behalf. He advises Cassio to approach her in the garden
where she is strolling with Iago’s wife, Emilia.
% As Cassio departs Iago gives vent to his ‘Credo’: he
believes in a cruel god who has made man in his own
image. Death is nothing and heaven a lie.
^ He watches as Cassio converses with Desdemona.
& As Otello enters Iago appears to mutter words of
concern. Pressed by Otello, Iago with apparent
reluctance hints at an illicit relationship between Cassio
and Desdemona. As Otello becomes distracted, Iago
warns him to beware of jealousy but to watch his wife
carefully.
* Desdemona reappears in the garden, surrounded by
women and children who serenade her.
( After they have dispersed, Desdemona intercedes on
Cassio’s behalf with Otello. Otello claims to have a
headache, but when Desdemona produces a
handkerchief to soothe his brow, he flings it to the floor.
Emilia picks it up but Iago quietly takes it from her.
Given to Desdemona by Otello when they first met, it is
a precious gift and one of which Iago is sure he can
make use in the future. Desdemona and Emilia depart.
) As Otello gets more distracted, Iago advises him to
think no more of his concerns. Otello flares up and
accuses him of planting the idea of treachery in his
mind.
¡ In a passionate outburst he foresees his memories
and triumphs shattered by the idea of Desdemona’s
infidelity. He demands proof of this from Iago.
™ Iago tells him of how one night, sleeping beside
Cassio, he had heard him talk of Desdemona as though
they were lovers. But this was only a dream. He can
produce firm evidence: does not Otello remember an
embroidered handkerchief which he gave to
Desdemona? Otello can remember it – it was his first
pledge of love to her. Iago tells Otello that he has
8.111320-21
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12/18/07
4:06 PM
advertising, as the greatest conductor alive. This process
was to be further emphasized by the introduction of
long-playing records in 1948 and the swift appearance of
longer, generally complete, works in the record
catalogue. RCA and NBC’s promotion of Toscanini was
further intensified with the broadcasting on the new
medium of television of two of the concerts in the NBC
Symphony Orchestra’s 1947-48 season. It was during
this season of NBC concerts that the performances of
Otello heard on this recording, which were spread over
two evenings though not themselves televised, took
place..
The recording has been described by one of
Toscanini’s biographers, Joseph Horowitz, as the most
successful of his opera recordings for NBC, and ‘the one
that comes closest to recapturing Toscanini’s
revolutionary impact in the pit.’ The reasons for this are
several: Verdi’s unremitting dramatic thrust in this opera
suits ‘the Savanarola fury of Toscanini’s late years’; the
cast is the best of the seven operas that NBC broadcast;
and Toscanini is unremitting not only in his observation
of Verdi’s most detailed dynamic markings (after all the
composer had himself commented upon them to him),
but in his vivid dramatic grasp of Shakespeare’s timeless
tragedy. To quote Horowitz once again: ‘He [Toscanini]
tightens the screw implacably, plotting a continuous
descent toward a calamity greater than its victims.’ Even
more immediate is the recollection of the distinguished
violinist Felix Galimir, who played in the NBC
Symphony Orchestra for these performances: ‘Those
were some of the great performances: I think I will never
hear anything like that Otello.’
Cast in the title rôle was the Chilean singer Ramón
Vinay (1911-1996), who started his career as a baritone,
reverted to tenor and then moved back to baritone. Born
in Chillán, Chile, he was educated in France before his
family moved to Mexico City. Here he studied voice
with José Pierson, and made his début as Don Alfonso in
Donizetti’s La Favorita. After further study with René
Maison, he appeared as a tenor for the first time in 1944,
the year in which he also first sang Otello. He made his
début with the New York City Center Opera in 1945 and
at the Metropolitan Opera during the following year,
8.111320-21
Page 6
once again as Otello. His singing of this rôle with
Toscanini launched his international career: he went on
to appear in both Italian and German repertoire in
Bayreuth, Buenos Aires, London, Paris, Salzburg, and
Vienna, singing under conductors such as Furtwängler
and Beecham. He returned to singing baritone rôles in
1962, and last sang in public in 1974.
Singing opposite Vinay was Giuseppe Valdengo
(1914-2007) as Iago. He studied violin, oboe and singing
at the Turin Conservatory, and after singing subsidiary
rôles, made his début as a principal in Rossini’s The
Barber of Seville at Parma in 1936. He first appeared at
La Scala, Milan, in 1938. He sang Sharpless in Puccini’s
Madama Butterfly at the New York City Center Opera in
1946, the same year in which he made his début at the
Metropolitan Opera, with which he was to enjoy a long
and distinguished relationship. In addition to Otello, he
also took the principal baritone rôles in Toscanini’s
broadcasts and recordings of Aida and Falstaff. He
returned to Italy in 1956, and retired from the stage in
1966, after which he taught and wrote a book entitled ‘I
sang with Toscanini’.
Toscanini cast in the rôle of Desdemona Herva
Nelli (1909-1994). Born in Florence, she attended a
convent school, before her family moved when she was
twelve to Pittsburgh, where she studied at the Pittsburgh
Music Institute. She made her operatic début as Santuzza
in Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana in 1937 with
Brooklyn’s Salmaggi Opera, with which she was also to
appear in La Forza del Destino and Il Trovatore. She
sang Santuzza for the New City Center Opera in 1947,
the year in which she successfully auditioned for
Toscanini. Following Otello she sang in his broadcasts
and recordings of Aida, Falstaff, Un Ballo in maschera
and the Verdi Requiem. She subsequently pursued a
busy career throughout America, and appeared at the
Metropolitan Opera regularly between 1953 and 1961 in
a variety of rôles for dramatic soprano. She gave her last
operatic performance in 1962, and later earned a
considerable reputation as a chef.
CD 1
75:17
# Spoken synopsis, Act II
3:10
Act II
Broadcast 6 December 1947
33:46
$ Non ti cruciar
(Iago, Cassio)
2:19
% Credo in un Dio crudel (Iago’s Credo)
(Iago)
4:27
3 Una vela!
4:16
(Chorus, Montano, Cassio, Iago, Roderigo)
^ Eccola
(Iago)
1:22
4 Esultate!
(Otello, Chorus, Iago, Roderigo)
4:43
& Ciò m’accora
(Iago, Otello)
4:03
5 Fuoco di gioia!
(Chorus)
2:44
* Dove guardi splendono
(Chorus, Iago, Desdemona, Otello)
4:49
6 Roderigo, beviam!
(Iago, Cassio, Chorus, Roderigo)
1:15
( D’un uom che geme
(Desdemona, Otello, Iago, Emilia)
4:40
7 Inaffia l’ugola!
(Iago, Cassio, Roderigo, Chorus)
3:52
) Desdemona rea!
(Otello, Iago)
1:40
8 Capitano, v’attende
1:22
(Montano, Cassio, Iago, Roderigo, Chorus)
¡ Ora e per sempre addio
(Otello, Iago)
3:32
9 Olà! Che avvien?
(Otello, Iago, Cassio, Montano)
3:27
™ Era la notte
(Iago, Otello)
3:56
0 Già nelle notte
(Otello, Desdemona)
1:41
£ Sì, pel ciel
(Otello, Iago)
6:09
! Quando narravi
(Desdemona, Otello)
2:57
@ Venga la morte!
(Otello, Desdemona)
4:30
1 Opening announcement
2 Spoken synopsis, Act I
Act I
1:49
2:35
33:57
David Patmore
6
3
8.111320-21
111320-21 bk OtelloEU
CD 2
12/18/07
4:06 PM
75:04
Broadcast 13 December 1947
1 Opening announcement
2 Spoken synopsis, Act III
Act III
1:26
1:25
39:41
Page 4
0 Viva il Leon di San Marco!
(Lodovico, Otello, Desdemona, Emilia,
Iago, Roderigo, Chorus)
! A terra!…sì…nel livido fango
(Desdemona, Emilia, Cassio, Roderigo,
Lodovico, Chorus, Iago, Otello)
@ Spoken synopsis, Act IV
5:03
Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)
9:42
The idea for a libretto based on Shakespeare’s tragedy
Othello, to be written by the Italian critic and composer
Arrigo Boito and to be set to music by the pre-eminent
Italian composer of the late nineteenth century,
Giuseppe Verdi, was first suggested by Verdi’s
publisher Giuseppe Ricordi. Initially Verdi was
extremely resistant to the idea, commenting to Boito
when he brought him a sketch: ‘Write the libretto. It will
come in handy for yourself, for me or for someone else.’
Despite continuing protestations, he received the
completed libretto on 18th November 1879, read it and
accepted it. But he was not to write a note of music for it
for another five years.
During this period Verdi worked with Boito on the
revision of his earlier opera Simon Boccanegra,
demonstrating his immense practicality when he wrote
to his colleague: ‘…you are aiming here at an
unobtainable perfection. I do not aim so high and so am
more optimistic than you, and by no means in despair. I
admit the table is shaky, but if we adjust the legs a little I
think it will stand up.’ Verdi began work on Otello in
March 1884, completing the outline score by October
1885. During the following year he scored it for
orchestra and made some revisions: the final full score
was sent to Ricordi in December 1886. The first
production was quickly mounted at Milan’s La Scala
opera house, with the première taking place on 5th
February 1887, under the baton of the leading conductor
of the period, Franco Faccio. The reception given to the
new work was ecstatic: Verdi had to take twenty curtain
calls, with all of the audience on its feet, waving hats and
handkerchiefs in its excitement. When he left the theatre,
his carriage was pulled by adoring admirers and he was
serenaded until five in the morning. The general mood
was summed up by a contemporary cartoon in a
humorous Milan journal, in which Otello was portrayed
as singing: ‘Un bacio, un bacio, ancora un bacio / a
Verdi, al Boito e al Facio.’ (Quoting Otello in the final
act, ‘A kiss, a kiss, and once more a kiss, to Verdi, Boito
and Faccio.’)
Otello
2:59
3 Introduction
1:06
4 La vedetta del porto
(Herald, Otello, Iago)
1:11
# Era più calmo?
(Emilia, Desdemona)
3:24
5 Dio ti giocondi, o sposo
(Desdemona, Otello)
9:12
6:31
6 Dio! Mi potevi scagliar
(Otello, Iago)
$ Mia madre aveva una povera ancella
(Willow Song)
(Desdemona, Emilia)
3:44
6:28
7 Vieni, l’aula è deserta
(Iago, Cassio, Otello)
% Ave Maria
(Desdemona)
3:40
3:11
8 Questa è una ragna
(Iago, Cassio, Otello)
^ Chi è là?
(Desdemona, Otello)
1:47
1:18
& Calma come la tomba
(Otello, Emilia, Desdemona, Cassio, Iago,
Lodovico, Montano)
3:09
9 Come la ucciderò?
(Otello, Iago, Chorus)
* Nium mi tema
(Otello, Cassio, Lodovico, Montano)
9:48
Act IV
29:30
Producer’s Note
The source for this reissue is a set of 16 inch lacquer-coated aluminium discs which were recorded nominally at
33rpm. The sound on these discs is astonishing and, for the most part, they are amazingly quiet. I used a light
application of CEDAR to reduce occasional crackle but I employed no digital de-noising techniques for fear of
compromising the overall sound. I should also mention that I have made no attempt to “enhance” the sound of these
broadcasts by adding artificial reverberation. The broadcasts are presented here in their entirety with applause and all
of Ben Grauer’s announcements included. My only intervention is that I have patched from rehearsals to correct
three obvious mistakes during the performance, an unsung line by Iago in Act I, and two flubbed entrances in Act II.
Ward Marston
8.111320-21
4
5
The second cellist in the orchestra of La Scala for
that first performance was Arturo Toscanini. During the
rehearsals Verdi had leaned over to him and asked him
‘to play louder’ in the passage for four cellos at the end
of the first act. Seven years later, and now successfully
launched on a career as a conductor, Toscanini gave
Otello at Pisa in 1894, and following his appointment as
conductor at La Scala in 1898, presented it once again to
the Milanese audience as one of the opening productions
of his second season, the other being Wagner’s
Siegfried. His working methods at this time are vividly
described by none other than Wagner’s widow, Cosima,
writing to Toscanini following her son Siegfried’s visit
to hear him conduct Tristan und Isolde in Milan in 1901:
‘My son stressed the meticulous zeal which you brought
to the orchestral preparations and the excellent result
obtained by this zeal, along with your ability as
conductor. He also told me that the singers knew their
rôles perfectly and delivered them with passion and
enthusiasm.’
Toscanini’s career as the finest Italian conductor of
his generation continued throughout the first half of the
twentieth century. In 1937 David Sarnoff, the head of the
Radio Corporation of America, needed to project an
image of public service for his radio station, NBC, to
ward off potentially damaging Congressional
investigation into its commercial nature. He thus
vigorously backed Samuel Chotzinoff’s idea of luring
Toscanini back to New York, following his departure
during the previous year as chief conductor of the New
York Philharmonic Orchestra, with the promise of a new
orchestra created especially for him. Toscanini accepted
the proposal: his first concert with this new orchestra,
the NBC Symphony Orchestra, given and broadcast on
Christmas Day 1937, elicited high critical praise and
significant public response. The threats to NBC from
Congress receded. Thereafter New York was to be
Toscanini’s principal theatre of activity, and by 1947 he
was being emphatically promoted by RCA through radio
and gramophone recordings, and their associated
8.111320-21
111320-21 bk OtelloEU
CD 2
12/18/07
4:06 PM
75:04
Broadcast 13 December 1947
1 Opening announcement
2 Spoken synopsis, Act III
Act III
1:26
1:25
39:41
Page 4
0 Viva il Leon di San Marco!
(Lodovico, Otello, Desdemona, Emilia,
Iago, Roderigo, Chorus)
! A terra!…sì…nel livido fango
(Desdemona, Emilia, Cassio, Roderigo,
Lodovico, Chorus, Iago, Otello)
@ Spoken synopsis, Act IV
5:03
Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901)
9:42
The idea for a libretto based on Shakespeare’s tragedy
Othello, to be written by the Italian critic and composer
Arrigo Boito and to be set to music by the pre-eminent
Italian composer of the late nineteenth century,
Giuseppe Verdi, was first suggested by Verdi’s
publisher Giuseppe Ricordi. Initially Verdi was
extremely resistant to the idea, commenting to Boito
when he brought him a sketch: ‘Write the libretto. It will
come in handy for yourself, for me or for someone else.’
Despite continuing protestations, he received the
completed libretto on 18th November 1879, read it and
accepted it. But he was not to write a note of music for it
for another five years.
During this period Verdi worked with Boito on the
revision of his earlier opera Simon Boccanegra,
demonstrating his immense practicality when he wrote
to his colleague: ‘…you are aiming here at an
unobtainable perfection. I do not aim so high and so am
more optimistic than you, and by no means in despair. I
admit the table is shaky, but if we adjust the legs a little I
think it will stand up.’ Verdi began work on Otello in
March 1884, completing the outline score by October
1885. During the following year he scored it for
orchestra and made some revisions: the final full score
was sent to Ricordi in December 1886. The first
production was quickly mounted at Milan’s La Scala
opera house, with the première taking place on 5th
February 1887, under the baton of the leading conductor
of the period, Franco Faccio. The reception given to the
new work was ecstatic: Verdi had to take twenty curtain
calls, with all of the audience on its feet, waving hats and
handkerchiefs in its excitement. When he left the theatre,
his carriage was pulled by adoring admirers and he was
serenaded until five in the morning. The general mood
was summed up by a contemporary cartoon in a
humorous Milan journal, in which Otello was portrayed
as singing: ‘Un bacio, un bacio, ancora un bacio / a
Verdi, al Boito e al Facio.’ (Quoting Otello in the final
act, ‘A kiss, a kiss, and once more a kiss, to Verdi, Boito
and Faccio.’)
Otello
2:59
3 Introduction
1:06
4 La vedetta del porto
(Herald, Otello, Iago)
1:11
# Era più calmo?
(Emilia, Desdemona)
3:24
5 Dio ti giocondi, o sposo
(Desdemona, Otello)
9:12
6:31
6 Dio! Mi potevi scagliar
(Otello, Iago)
$ Mia madre aveva una povera ancella
(Willow Song)
(Desdemona, Emilia)
3:44
6:28
7 Vieni, l’aula è deserta
(Iago, Cassio, Otello)
% Ave Maria
(Desdemona)
3:40
3:11
8 Questa è una ragna
(Iago, Cassio, Otello)
^ Chi è là?
(Desdemona, Otello)
1:47
1:18
& Calma come la tomba
(Otello, Emilia, Desdemona, Cassio, Iago,
Lodovico, Montano)
3:09
9 Come la ucciderò?
(Otello, Iago, Chorus)
* Nium mi tema
(Otello, Cassio, Lodovico, Montano)
9:48
Act IV
29:30
Producer’s Note
The source for this reissue is a set of 16 inch lacquer-coated aluminium discs which were recorded nominally at
33rpm. The sound on these discs is astonishing and, for the most part, they are amazingly quiet. I used a light
application of CEDAR to reduce occasional crackle but I employed no digital de-noising techniques for fear of
compromising the overall sound. I should also mention that I have made no attempt to “enhance” the sound of these
broadcasts by adding artificial reverberation. The broadcasts are presented here in their entirety with applause and all
of Ben Grauer’s announcements included. My only intervention is that I have patched from rehearsals to correct
three obvious mistakes during the performance, an unsung line by Iago in Act I, and two flubbed entrances in Act II.
Ward Marston
8.111320-21
4
5
The second cellist in the orchestra of La Scala for
that first performance was Arturo Toscanini. During the
rehearsals Verdi had leaned over to him and asked him
‘to play louder’ in the passage for four cellos at the end
of the first act. Seven years later, and now successfully
launched on a career as a conductor, Toscanini gave
Otello at Pisa in 1894, and following his appointment as
conductor at La Scala in 1898, presented it once again to
the Milanese audience as one of the opening productions
of his second season, the other being Wagner’s
Siegfried. His working methods at this time are vividly
described by none other than Wagner’s widow, Cosima,
writing to Toscanini following her son Siegfried’s visit
to hear him conduct Tristan und Isolde in Milan in 1901:
‘My son stressed the meticulous zeal which you brought
to the orchestral preparations and the excellent result
obtained by this zeal, along with your ability as
conductor. He also told me that the singers knew their
rôles perfectly and delivered them with passion and
enthusiasm.’
Toscanini’s career as the finest Italian conductor of
his generation continued throughout the first half of the
twentieth century. In 1937 David Sarnoff, the head of the
Radio Corporation of America, needed to project an
image of public service for his radio station, NBC, to
ward off potentially damaging Congressional
investigation into its commercial nature. He thus
vigorously backed Samuel Chotzinoff’s idea of luring
Toscanini back to New York, following his departure
during the previous year as chief conductor of the New
York Philharmonic Orchestra, with the promise of a new
orchestra created especially for him. Toscanini accepted
the proposal: his first concert with this new orchestra,
the NBC Symphony Orchestra, given and broadcast on
Christmas Day 1937, elicited high critical praise and
significant public response. The threats to NBC from
Congress receded. Thereafter New York was to be
Toscanini’s principal theatre of activity, and by 1947 he
was being emphatically promoted by RCA through radio
and gramophone recordings, and their associated
8.111320-21
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4:06 PM
advertising, as the greatest conductor alive. This process
was to be further emphasized by the introduction of
long-playing records in 1948 and the swift appearance of
longer, generally complete, works in the record
catalogue. RCA and NBC’s promotion of Toscanini was
further intensified with the broadcasting on the new
medium of television of two of the concerts in the NBC
Symphony Orchestra’s 1947-48 season. It was during
this season of NBC concerts that the performances of
Otello heard on this recording, which were spread over
two evenings though not themselves televised, took
place..
The recording has been described by one of
Toscanini’s biographers, Joseph Horowitz, as the most
successful of his opera recordings for NBC, and ‘the one
that comes closest to recapturing Toscanini’s
revolutionary impact in the pit.’ The reasons for this are
several: Verdi’s unremitting dramatic thrust in this opera
suits ‘the Savanarola fury of Toscanini’s late years’; the
cast is the best of the seven operas that NBC broadcast;
and Toscanini is unremitting not only in his observation
of Verdi’s most detailed dynamic markings (after all the
composer had himself commented upon them to him),
but in his vivid dramatic grasp of Shakespeare’s timeless
tragedy. To quote Horowitz once again: ‘He [Toscanini]
tightens the screw implacably, plotting a continuous
descent toward a calamity greater than its victims.’ Even
more immediate is the recollection of the distinguished
violinist Felix Galimir, who played in the NBC
Symphony Orchestra for these performances: ‘Those
were some of the great performances: I think I will never
hear anything like that Otello.’
Cast in the title rôle was the Chilean singer Ramón
Vinay (1911-1996), who started his career as a baritone,
reverted to tenor and then moved back to baritone. Born
in Chillán, Chile, he was educated in France before his
family moved to Mexico City. Here he studied voice
with José Pierson, and made his début as Don Alfonso in
Donizetti’s La Favorita. After further study with René
Maison, he appeared as a tenor for the first time in 1944,
the year in which he also first sang Otello. He made his
début with the New York City Center Opera in 1945 and
at the Metropolitan Opera during the following year,
8.111320-21
Page 6
once again as Otello. His singing of this rôle with
Toscanini launched his international career: he went on
to appear in both Italian and German repertoire in
Bayreuth, Buenos Aires, London, Paris, Salzburg, and
Vienna, singing under conductors such as Furtwängler
and Beecham. He returned to singing baritone rôles in
1962, and last sang in public in 1974.
Singing opposite Vinay was Giuseppe Valdengo
(1914-2007) as Iago. He studied violin, oboe and singing
at the Turin Conservatory, and after singing subsidiary
rôles, made his début as a principal in Rossini’s The
Barber of Seville at Parma in 1936. He first appeared at
La Scala, Milan, in 1938. He sang Sharpless in Puccini’s
Madama Butterfly at the New York City Center Opera in
1946, the same year in which he made his début at the
Metropolitan Opera, with which he was to enjoy a long
and distinguished relationship. In addition to Otello, he
also took the principal baritone rôles in Toscanini’s
broadcasts and recordings of Aida and Falstaff. He
returned to Italy in 1956, and retired from the stage in
1966, after which he taught and wrote a book entitled ‘I
sang with Toscanini’.
Toscanini cast in the rôle of Desdemona Herva
Nelli (1909-1994). Born in Florence, she attended a
convent school, before her family moved when she was
twelve to Pittsburgh, where she studied at the Pittsburgh
Music Institute. She made her operatic début as Santuzza
in Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana in 1937 with
Brooklyn’s Salmaggi Opera, with which she was also to
appear in La Forza del Destino and Il Trovatore. She
sang Santuzza for the New City Center Opera in 1947,
the year in which she successfully auditioned for
Toscanini. Following Otello she sang in his broadcasts
and recordings of Aida, Falstaff, Un Ballo in maschera
and the Verdi Requiem. She subsequently pursued a
busy career throughout America, and appeared at the
Metropolitan Opera regularly between 1953 and 1961 in
a variety of rôles for dramatic soprano. She gave her last
operatic performance in 1962, and later earned a
considerable reputation as a chef.
CD 1
75:17
# Spoken synopsis, Act II
3:10
Act II
Broadcast 6 December 1947
33:46
$ Non ti cruciar
(Iago, Cassio)
2:19
% Credo in un Dio crudel (Iago’s Credo)
(Iago)
4:27
3 Una vela!
4:16
(Chorus, Montano, Cassio, Iago, Roderigo)
^ Eccola
(Iago)
1:22
4 Esultate!
(Otello, Chorus, Iago, Roderigo)
4:43
& Ciò m’accora
(Iago, Otello)
4:03
5 Fuoco di gioia!
(Chorus)
2:44
* Dove guardi splendono
(Chorus, Iago, Desdemona, Otello)
4:49
6 Roderigo, beviam!
(Iago, Cassio, Chorus, Roderigo)
1:15
( D’un uom che geme
(Desdemona, Otello, Iago, Emilia)
4:40
7 Inaffia l’ugola!
(Iago, Cassio, Roderigo, Chorus)
3:52
) Desdemona rea!
(Otello, Iago)
1:40
8 Capitano, v’attende
1:22
(Montano, Cassio, Iago, Roderigo, Chorus)
¡ Ora e per sempre addio
(Otello, Iago)
3:32
9 Olà! Che avvien?
(Otello, Iago, Cassio, Montano)
3:27
™ Era la notte
(Iago, Otello)
3:56
0 Già nelle notte
(Otello, Desdemona)
1:41
£ Sì, pel ciel
(Otello, Iago)
6:09
! Quando narravi
(Desdemona, Otello)
2:57
@ Venga la morte!
(Otello, Desdemona)
4:30
1 Opening announcement
2 Spoken synopsis, Act I
Act I
1:49
2:35
33:57
David Patmore
6
3
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Page 2
Great Opera Performances
# Spoken synopsis of Act II
CD 1
Act II: A hall on the ground floor of the castle,
separated from the garden by a glass-paneled door
1 Opening announcement
2 Spoken synopsis of Act 1
Giuseppe
Act I: A seaport with a castle in Cyprus during the
fifteenth century
VERDI
(1813-1901)
3 A storm is raging. A crowd watches anxiously as the
ship of Otello, the Governor of Cyprus and a Moor, tries
to reach the shelter of the harbour.
4 The ship enters port safely and Otello exultantly
makes his triumphant entry. He announces his most
recent military victory, before entering the castle
accompanied by his lieutenant, Cassio. The crowds
salute Otello as their leader. Iago, Otello’s ensign, tells
Roderigo (who has travelled from Venice because of his
love for Otello’s wife Desdemona and whom Iago has
promised to help to gain her) how he hates Otello for
promoting Cassio over him.
5 The crowds create a bonfire to celebrate.
6 Cassio is persuaded to drink by Iago.
7 Iago knows that Cassio cannot hold his liquor, and
encourages a brawl between him and Roderigo.
8 Montano, Otello’s predecessor as Governor of
Cyprus, enters to call Cassio to his duty as the captain of
the guard, and is shocked to see him drunk. Cassio
draws his sword against Montano. Iago sends Roderigo
off to raise a general alarm.
9 With the fighting at its height and the alarm bells
tolling, Otello enters and demands to know how the
quarrel has arisen. Iago disingenuously suggests that
Cassio is to blame. Aroused by the noise, Desdemona
enters. Otello angrily tells Cassio that he is no longer his
lieutenant. The crowd disperses.
0 Otello turns to Desdemona and tells her how, like the
night, his love for her banishes thoughts of violence.
! The two recall the growth of their love for each
other.
@ Otello is carried away by the intensity of the moment
and seeks a kiss from Desdemona. They embrace and
slowly enter the castle.
Otello
Lyric Drama in 4 Acts • Libretto by Arrigo Boito (from Shakespeare)
Otello . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ramón Vinay
Desdemona . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Herva Nelli
Iago . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Giuseppe Valdengo
Cassio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Virginio Assandri
Emilia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nan Merriman
Roderigo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Leslie Chabay
Lodovico . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nicola Moscona
Montàno . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Arthur Newman
NBC Symphony Orchestra and Choruses
Arturo Toscanini
Acts I & II broadcast on 6 December, 1947
Acts III & IV broadcast on 13 December, 1947
Announcer: Ben Grauer
Thanks to Eugene S. Pollioni
8.111320-21
Synopsis
2
7
$ Cassio and Iago have been conversing and Iago
assures Cassio that he will regain Otello’s esteem,
especially if he asks Desdemona to intercede on his
behalf. He advises Cassio to approach her in the garden
where she is strolling with Iago’s wife, Emilia.
% As Cassio departs Iago gives vent to his ‘Credo’: he
believes in a cruel god who has made man in his own
image. Death is nothing and heaven a lie.
^ He watches as Cassio converses with Desdemona.
& As Otello enters Iago appears to mutter words of
concern. Pressed by Otello, Iago with apparent
reluctance hints at an illicit relationship between Cassio
and Desdemona. As Otello becomes distracted, Iago
warns him to beware of jealousy but to watch his wife
carefully.
* Desdemona reappears in the garden, surrounded by
women and children who serenade her.
( After they have dispersed, Desdemona intercedes on
Cassio’s behalf with Otello. Otello claims to have a
headache, but when Desdemona produces a
handkerchief to soothe his brow, he flings it to the floor.
Emilia picks it up but Iago quietly takes it from her.
Given to Desdemona by Otello when they first met, it is
a precious gift and one of which Iago is sure he can
make use in the future. Desdemona and Emilia depart.
) As Otello gets more distracted, Iago advises him to
think no more of his concerns. Otello flares up and
accuses him of planting the idea of treachery in his
mind.
¡ In a passionate outburst he foresees his memories
and triumphs shattered by the idea of Desdemona’s
infidelity. He demands proof of this from Iago.
™ Iago tells him of how one night, sleeping beside
Cassio, he had heard him talk of Desdemona as though
they were lovers. But this was only a dream. He can
produce firm evidence: does not Otello remember an
embroidered handkerchief which he gave to
Desdemona? Otello can remember it – it was his first
pledge of love to her. Iago tells Otello that he has
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4:06 PM
recently seen this handkerchief in Cassio’s hand.
£ Otello is roused to jealous fury and swears
vengeance. Iago kneels beside him and vows to assist
him.
CD 2
1 Opening announcement
2 Spoken synopsis of Act III
Act III: The great hall of the castle
3 There is an orchestral introduction.
4 A Herald announces that the galley bringing the
Venetian ambassadors has been sighted. Otello
acknowledges this, but continues talking to Iago. Iago is
planning to lure Cassio into the hall and into talking
about Desdemona.
5 Desdemona enters and once more tries to persuade
Otello to reinstate Cassio. Again claiming to have a
headache he asks Desdemona for the handkerchief
which he gave her. When she is unable to produce it, he
becomes violent, accuses her of adultery despite her
protestations of innocence, and forces her out of the
hall.
6 Alone he reflects on his misery. Iago enters and
makes Otello hide behind a pillar.
7 Cassio enters and Iago banters with him about the
whore Bianca, but Otello believes them to be talking
about Desdemona. Encouraged by Iago, Cassio
produces the handkerchief which Iago had earlier
planted in his room, and Iago ensures that Otello sees it.
8 While Cassio and Iago admire the handkerchief,
Otello believes it to reveal treachery. A trumpet
announces the arrival of the Venetian galley and Cassio
leaves.
9 A distraught Otello decides to kill Desdemona by
poison but Iago suggests smothering her instead. Otello
pronounces Iago his captain.
Page 8
0 The Venetian ambassador, Lodovico, Desdemona,
Emilia and the court enter. Lodovico hands Otello a
message from the Doge. While reading it, Otello
continues to mutter bitter asides at Desdemona. He has
been recalled to Venice and Cassio appointed in his
place. While announcing that he will set sail the
following morning, he flings Desdemona to the ground.
! Desdemona sings of her misery, and in the ensuing
ensemble Iago promises Otello that he will kill Cassio.
Otello dismisses the court and curses Desdemona. At
this point alone except for Iago, Otello succumbs to a fit
of epilepsy. As Otello lies prostrate on the floor, Iago
mocks the fallen Lion of Venice.
@ Spoken synopsis of Act IV
Ramón Vinay • Herva Nelli • Giuseppe Valdengo
NBC Symphony Orchestra and Choruses
Recorded in 1947
# Emilia helps Desdemona to prepare for bed.
$ Desdemona sadly recalls a song of unrequited love
sung by her mother’s servant, Barbara, the Willow
song.
% She gives a ring to Emilia, says farewell to her, prays
to the Virgin Mary, and goes to bed.
^ Otello enters, places his sword by a lamp, uncertain
whether or not to extinguish it. He looks at Desdemona
and puts out the light. He kisses the sleeping
Desdemona three times – on the third kiss she awakes.
He taunts her with her alleged infidelity with Cassio,
which she vehemently denies. Otello tells her that
Cassio is dead. Shocked, Desdemona pleads for her life
but to no avail: Otello strangles her.
& Emilia immediately enters with the news that Cassio
has killed Roderigo. Desdemona calls weakly from her
bed, and dies. Emilia cries for help and Lodovico,
Cassio, Iago, and Montano enter. Iago is challenged by
Emilia, and his plotting revealed: he flees.
* Completely broken, Otello draws his dagger and
stabs himself as he seeks a final kiss from the body of
Desdemona.
8
ADD
8.111320-21
VERDI
Otello
Arturo Toscanini
Act IV: Desdemona’s chamber
Keith Anderson
8.111320-21
Great Opera Performances
2 CDs
Vinay • Nelli • Valdengo • Toscanini
ADD
2 CDs
VERDI
Playing
Time
2:30:21
(1813-1901)
Otello
Otello . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ramón Vinay
Desdemona . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Herva Nelli
Iago . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Giuseppe Valdengo
Cassio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Virginio Assandri
Emilia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nan Merriman
Roderigo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Leslie Chabay
NBC Symphony Orchestra and Choruses
Arturo Toscanini
Acts I & II broadcast on 6 December, 1947
Acts III & IV broadcast on 13 December, 1947
Announcer: Ben Grauer
CD 1
1
2
3-@
#
$-£
75:17
Opening announcement
Spoken synopsis, Act I
Act I
Spoken synopsis, Act II
Act II
1:49
2:35
33:57
3:10
33:46
Audio Restoration Producer: Ward Marston
www.naxos.com
A detailed track list can be found in the booklet
Cover Image: Stage design by Giovanni Zuccarelli
for the première of Verdi’s Otello (Milan, 1887)
Arturo Toscanini was the second
cellist in the orchestra of La Scala,
Milan, for the triumphant first
performance of Verdi’s Otello on
5th February 1887. Sixty years later
he led a radio broadcast of Otello
spread over two evenings that is
considered by many to be the most
successful of his opera recordings
for NBC. Described by one of
Toscanini’s biographers, Joseph
Horowitz, as ‘the one that comes
closest to recapturing Toscanini’s
revolutionary impact in the pit’,
this December 1947 recording is
remarkable for Toscanini’s
dramatic grasp of Shakespeare’s
timeless tragedy, and his scrupulous
observation of Verdi’s most detailed
dynamic markings.
CD 2
1
2
3-!
@
#-*
75:04
Opening announcement
Spoken synopsis, Act III
Act III
Spoken synopsis, Act IV
Act IV
1:26
1:25
39:41
2:59
29:30
8.111320-21
NAXOS Historical
Giuseppe
VERDI: Otello
MADE IN
GERMANY
8.111320-21
NAXOS Historical
ALL RIGHTS IN THIS SOUND RECORDING, ARTWORK, TEXTS AND
TRANSLATIONS RESERVED. UNAUTHORISED PUBLIC PERFORMANCE,
BROADCASTING AND COPYING OF THIS COMPACT DISC PROHIBITED.
& 2008 Naxos Rights International Ltd.
8.111320-21
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