Met 3.11.67 Otello

[stefano]

Sirius this week is playing the broadcast of the 3.11.67 Otello
(Mehta:MacCraken, Caballe, Gobbi). Though this is hardly the best
Otello one will ever hear, it is quite thrilling and well sung. I
think Mehta was at his best early on, before he became a "star,"
working with the Three Tenors and then Bocelli (I guess he lost his
sense of shame...). His conducting here really is superb. MaCracken
was never a favorite of mine, but Otello was one role where he stood
out. His is not an "intelligent" interpretation (e.g., Vickers,
Domingo), but Otello is not really that bright a fellow. MaCracken
does convey the primal animality of the character, with a muscular,
thrilling voice. He is no Del Monaco, to be sure, but really delivers
the goods. Except for a surprising weak "O Amelia" at the end of the
Willow Song, Caballe gives an almost perfect performance. The voice
was amazing in 1967. As for Gobbi, he understandably owned the role
of Iago, though the voice was not in particularly good shape by the
late sixties. Though he barks a bit too much for my taste, far more
so than when I saw him at the Chicago Lyric a few years earlier, there
is no doubt that this IS Iago, a fully dveloped character. For
collectors, this Otello is well worth recording.

Frank A.

[calabria]

McCraken was a barking dog. I heard him sing a couple of times and
wanted to ask for my money back.

[stefano]

So what does that have to do with this particular performance of
Otello? I never cared for MaCracken in other roles, but here he
really was impressive. If you go back to his debut in Otello in the
sixties, he almost set the world on fire. Besides Vickers, no one of
stature had done the role since Del Monaco dropped it. And who can do
it today, Cura? Give me a break!

Frank A.