2023 NativeDSD Album of the Year – Opera
Verdi: Otello is a Double Album featuring the London Symphony Orchestra, London Symphony Chorus and 9 Soloists including Simon O’Neill, Gerald Finley and Anne Schwanewilms conducted by Sir Colin Davis. The performance was called “an electrifying account of a masterpiece, conducted with an explosive energy that belies Sir Colin’s eighty years and pushed the LSO to the top of its game.”
Verdi had retired from opera following the premiere of Aida in 1871 but was eventually persuaded by his publisher to work with the librettist Arrigo Boito. As with Falstaff, Verdi’s final opera on which they would subsequently collaborate, they turned to Shakespeare for inspiration. Otello, which was premiered in 1887, marked a significant evolutionary development in Italian opera and is widely regarded as one of the great operatic masterpieces.
Sir Colin Davis, Conductor
London Symphony Orchestra
London Symphony Chorus
Soloists
Simon O’Neill, Tenor
Gerald Finley, Bass-Baritone
Anne Schwanewilms, Soprano
Allan Clayton, Tenor
Ben Johnson, Tenor
Alexander Tsymbalyuk, Bass
Matthew Rose, Bass
Lukas Jakobski, Bass
Eufemia Tufano, Mezzo-Soprano
Tracklist
Please note that the below previews are loaded as 44.1 kHz / 16 bit.Total time: 02:11:03
Additional information
| Label | |
|---|---|
| SKU | LSO0200D |
| Qualities | DSD 512 fs, DSD 256 fs, DSD 128 fs, DSD 64 fs, DXD 24 Bit, FLAC 192 kHz, FLAC 96 kHz |
| Channels | 2ch Stereo, 5.1 Channel Surround Sound, 2ch Stereo & 5.1ch Surround |
| Artists | Alexander Tsymbalyuk, Allan Clayton, Anne Schwanewilms, Ben Johnson, Eufemia Tufano, Gerald Finley, London Symphony Chorus, London Symphony Orchestra, Lukas Jakobski, Matthew Rose, Simon O'Neill, Sir Colin Davis |
| Composers | |
| Genres | |
| Conductors | |
| Instruments | |
| Original Recording Format | |
| Release Date | September 5, 2023 |
Press reviews
Daily Telegraph
This is an electrifying account of a masterpiece, conducted with an explosive energy that belies Sir Colin’s eighty years and pushed the London Symphony Orchestra to the top of its game.
Simon O’Neill made a tremendous debut in the title-role, giving notice that he is the best heroic tenor to emerge over the last decade. Gerald Finley was an arrestingly crisp and snakily plausible Iago.
Verdi’s great music drama shone in all its power and glory
PrestoMusic
[O’Neill’s] is one of the most dramatically sung and exciting performances you are ever likely to hear…his phrasing is beautiful and his top notes really ring…[Finley’s] smooth and velvety tone succeeds where many others have struggled in portraying the calculated and cunning aspect of his villainy…The whole performance is exhilarating and it comes very highly recommended.
Gramophone
Finley gives a masterly account of [Iago], his voice seemingly transfigured by the Italian music and language…his singing – firm and resonant – is scarcely to be bettered on record…O’Neill is an unusual Otello in that he is so unequivocally a tenor, with no hint of baritone in his timbre…the playing is alert and sensitive to drama and text.
BBC Music
…everything contributes to accentuating extremes: Colin Davis gets the LSO, in shattering form, to play chords like cannon shots…The two male leads are superb: Simon O’Neill is the most complete Otello since Domingo…Finley’s debut as Iago is also a great reading – the most chilling I have ever heard.
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