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.