Giuseppe Verdi: Otello (Salzburg Festival 2008)

The premiere reviews focused on the conductor’s performance: according to La Republica, he showed “Otello in all its brutality” and Opera underlined “the finely balanced orchestral sound, through which every phrase seemed absolutely coherent musically.” Interestingly, Muti played the Act III finale in the revised version Verdi had composed for the opera’s Paris premiere in 1894. The Vienna orchestra earned unanimous praise for its precise interplay, which enabled it to sound “dreamlike” or like a “monster” that “hisses and snorts,” depending on the situation.