For a moment, if you can, put aside the fact that, after 234 previous performances of this opera at Covent Garden, here was a milestone night of a sort, the first time that a black man has sung the title role in Verdi’s Otello on the Royal Opera House stage. Instead, judging this latest version of Keith Warner’s 2017 production squarely on its artistic merits, note also that this is a truly compelling revival.
Five years ago, Warner’s crepuscular staging disappointed some of the high expectations that surrounded Jonas Kaufmann’s debut in the role. Now, revived by Isabelle Kettle and conducted by Daniele Rustioni, the production hits its stride more surely, in a psychologically gripping triangle of jealousy that is elevated by the American tenor Russell Thomas’s at times almost elemental incarnation of the notoriously demanding title role.
Thomas has big shoes to fill, not least for those who can recall Plácido Domingo’s occupation of the role in his prime. He does not match those heights consistently, but there is ringing prowess in every bar he sings and he inhabits the part from start to finish. His farewell to glory in act two was exceptionally fine and the personal annihilation he achieved in the final scene was shattering. It is a searing and overdue interpretation and he will be a hard act to follow when Covent Garden is casting its next revival.
In many ways, though, this production is built around Iago. One sees throughout why Verdi thought of calling the opera after him. Christopher Maltman dominates the stage and has the vocal stamina and subtlety the role demands. His Credo shocks, as it must, but Maltman’s prowess as a recitalist means he weaves the web of insinuation around Otello irresistibly too.
The Armenian soprano Hrachuhí Bassénz gives Desdemona the much-needed individuality the character deserves. There is true indignation in her denial of Otello’s suspicions about her relationship with Piotr Buszewski’s Cassio. Her wronged victimhood commands Verdi’s great third act ensemble. And before her death she floats her Ave Maria quietly into the heavens. It provided one of the many things about this Otello revival that will live in the memory.
Otello is at the Royal Opera House until 24 July.
