An orchestral and vocal tempest comes down in this later work by Verdi. Otello is an opera of extremes. It was completed a full sixteen years after the composer's previous opera, Aida.
Verdi had gone into something of a retirement, but he was convinced to write one more opera, and what an opera it is. Featuring a head-on clash of Otello’s uncontrolled aggressiveness, Iago’s calculated coldness, and Desdemona’s pure lyricism, the opera was a huge success when it was premiered in Milan, with the composer coming back for 20 curtain calls.
