Rossini's "Otello," first performed in 1816, remained an immensely popular opera throughout the nineteenth century and was only eclipsed by Verdi's more Shakespearean version. The critical edition by Michael Collins allows us to rediscover Rossini's "Otello" as one of the composer's early masterpieces in the tragic genre.
The first of eight serious operas newly-written for the Teatro San Carlo of Naples, "Otello" reveals Rossini as a composer deeply concerned with both character development and large-scale musical forms. Desdemona's "Willow Song" is a fine example: here not only is variation technique used for dramatic ends, but the song itself forms part of a larger scheme that encompasses the entire third act as a single, unified piece.
Far more than a mere forerunner to Verdi, Rossini's "Otello" deserves to be known for its own innovative qualities.
- ISBN10 0226728501
- ISBN13 9780226728506
- Publish Date 1 October 1995
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 14 June 2021
- Publish Country US
- Imprint University of Chicago Press
- Edition 2nd ed.
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 1130
- Language English