2-791-418 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Scene from the opera of "Otello" at Her Majesty's Theatre, 1844. Scene from a production of Gioachino Rossini's opera on the London stage: 'The Doge (Elmiro) denunciating his daughter (Desdemona) is perhaps, as treated by [Luigi] Lablache and [Giulia] Grisi, the most splendid lyric-tragic passage upon the Opera or indeed any other stage. The prostration of Grisi before the lightning blast of Lablache's malediction is truly awful...Mario as the Moor serves but as an accessory to the picture: he cannot stand out in any great prominence against the other mighty portraits. Garcia was the only Otello who could have withstood Lablache's Elmiro: but still Mario is very charming in the part and sings its music beautifully'. From "Illustrated London News", 1844, Vol I.