Michael Pöhn

The thaw of springtime prompts this week’s Grand Tier Grab Bag, a live recording of the American tenor’s debut in the title role of Umberto Giordano‘s verismo chestnut from Vienna. This debut presages heavier roles to come from Fabiano; over a decade after he was Cassio in Renée Fleming‘s valedictory Desdemona, he will be an Otello himself next spring in Toulouse.

The Met’s moody poet for its upcoming revival in November will, of course, be not Fabiano, but Piotr Beczala who also sings part for the first time this year.

Elsewhere, energizer bunny Gregory Kunde keeps the part in his repertoire.

Who would you most like to see head to the guillotine? (Theatrically, at least…)

Giordano: Andrea Chenier, “Come un bel di di maggio”

Michael Fabiano

Pier Giorgio Morandi, conductor
Wiener Staatsoper
Vienna
April 2025
In-house