Otello (2001)
One of the chief pleasures of this live production of Otello from the Berlin Staatsoper Unter den Linden is Daniel Barenboim's conducting. From the opening gale-force blast of storm music, through the crunching and stabbing accompaniment of Iago's "Credo" to the shimmering strings of Desdemona's "Willow Song", he doesn't miss a trick. Everything works at the highest pitch of intensity and the orchestra sticks to his beat like glue. It's a necessary compensation for the shortcomings of the staging: the stolid chorus remains unperturbed by the storm and is directed to perform with unison movements; the acting (apart from Valeri Alexejev) is non-committal, and Alexandre Tarta's video direction somewhat flat-footed. She doesn't manage to make much small-screen sense of an impenetrably murky opening scene, for example, and doesn't seem fond of reaction shots.
Cast
- Christian Franz - Otello (tenor)
- Emily Magee - Desdemona (soprano)
- Valeri Alexejev - Iago (baritone)
- Stephan Rügamer - Cassio (tenor)
- Andreas Schmidt - Roderigo (tenor)
- Kwangchul Youn - Lodovico (bass)
- Gerd Wolf - Montano (bass)
- Katharina Kammerloher - Emilia (mezzo-soprano)
Screenplay
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is Otello about?
- One of the chief pleasures of this live production of Otello from the Berlin Staatsoper Unter den Linden is Daniel Barenboim's conducting. From the opening gale-force blast of storm music, through the crunching and stabbing accompaniment of Iago's "Credo" to the shimmering strings of Desdemona's "Willow Song", he doesn't miss a trick. Everything works at the highest pitch of intensity and the orchestra sticks to his beat like glue. It's a necessary compensation for the shortcomings of the staging: the stolid chorus remains unperturbed by the storm and is directed to perform with unison movements; the acting (apart from Valeri Alexejev) is non-committal, and Alexandre Tarta's video direction somewhat flat-footed. She doesn't manage to make much small-screen sense of an impenetrably murky opening scene, for example, and doesn't seem fond of reaction shots.
- Who directed Otello?
- Otello was directed by Jürgen Flimm.
- Who stars in Otello?
- Otello stars Christian Franz, Emily Magee, Valeri Alexejev, Stephan Rügamer, Andreas Schmidt, Kwangchul Youn.
- How long is Otello?
- Otello has a runtime of 2h 37m (157 minutes).
- What genre is Otello?
- Otello is a Music film.