Consider the handling of Verdi at his most sensual in the love duet “Venga la morte!”—Vickers, renowned for his stentorian yet controlled power, here begins more gently, but with unmistakable virility as he floats his lines above the music.

Leonie Rysanek, perhaps not to everyone’s taste as Desdemona, responds with a beautiful, creamily viscous voice. The music soars to a climax as the lovers come together not as “a beast with two backs” as implied by Shakespeare’s Iago (played here by the incomparable Tito Gobbi), but with real tenderness and love, making the denouement all the more devastating. All of the artists were in their prime, and they brought an intensity and focus into the studio that might rival a great live performance. For me, this will always remain a go-to.

John Danaher

John Danaher lives in Naples, FL, where he has retired to read all of the books he was supposed to read in college. He attended a performance of Rigoletto at the New York City Opera when he was ten years old and was hooked: “Why are they putting that lady in a bag,” he asked as Gilda was being abducted. John’s live opera highlight was seeing the legendary Leonie Rysanek at the Metropolitan Opera in the role of Kostelnicka in Janacek’s Jenufa—the house almost literally was brought down. He enjoys tennis and traveling, catching opera performances on the road whenever he can.

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