A bronze-toned lion: Kaufmann debuts as Otello

By Mark Pullinger, 22 June 2017

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“his crooned pianissimos sounded mannered... in this role, less is not necessarily Moor”

Reviewed at Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London on 21 June 2017

Verdi, Otello

The Royal Opera

Sir Antonio Pappano, Conductor

Keith Warner, Director

Boris Kudlička, Set Designer

Kaspar Glarner, Costume Designer

Jonas Kaufmann, Otello

Maria Agresta, Desdemona

Marco Vratogna, Iago

Kai Rüütel-Pajula, Emilia

Frédéric Antoun, Cassio

Thomas Atkins, Roderigo

Insung Sim, Lodovico

Simon Shibambu, Montano

Royal Opera Chorus

Orchestra of the Royal Opera House Covent Garden

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Mark Pullinger

Mark has been a Bachtrack editor since 2014. He is also an experienced critic, writing hundreds of reviews for the site, as well as a freelancer writing for other magazines and newspapers. He also writes programme notes and blogs on Substack. Mark has a particular passion for the operas of Verdi as well as Russian and French repertoire. Outside the concert hall and opera house, Mark enjoys cooking and travel and is probably at his happiest let loose in a French patisserie or a Viennese coffee house.

A bronze-toned lion of Venice: Kaufmann debuts as Otello at Covent Garden