DAVID MELLOR CLASSICAL

This revival of Otello, made by the conducting of Daniele Rustioni, and the splendid singing of William Spaulding’s chorus, hit the news for entirely the wrong reason. This is apparently the first time Verdi’s Otello (as against Shakespeare’s play) has been performed on the London stage by a black lead.

For me, one of the great joys of opera is that it’s colour-blind. Any number of black singers have performed white roles here to great acclaim.

Russell Thomas, the Otello here, seeks no publicity on these grounds, making clear how much he enjoys his freedom to sing white Verdi roles to his heart’s content. And he does.

Thomas does well, even if his voice is a shade too small, and he lacks the amplitude for big moments like the duet Si Pel Ciel. His is an intelligent, wellsung and very well-acted performance that ought not to be singled out merely because of the colour of his skin.

Christopher Maltman is once again an experienced and thoroughly evil Iago. Hrachuhi Bassenz is not, for me, a particularly credible Desdemona (pictured, with Monika-Evelin Liiv as her maid, Emilia): she looks and sounds too mature.

The standout performance here comes from the conductor Daniele Rustioni. The greatest praise I can give to his vividly dramatic and, where required, tender-hearted account is that it is worthy of Antonio Pappano himself.

Rustioni is in the running to be Pappano’s successor. On this evidence they could look much further, and fare much worse. And, knowing the Opera House, it probably will.

Sadly, Keith Warner’s 2017 production, with clumsy set designs by Boris Kudlicka, doesn’t wear well. In fact it’s a terrible mess. Lots of ugly, sliding scenery to distract both the eyes and the ears from the essential drama.

Other things irritate, such as the huge Lion of Venice, which ends up broken into pieces in the corner as Otello murders Desdemona. How obvious.

Then having Desdemona put to death in a bedroom that looks like an ad for one of Hilton’s less expensive brands doesn’t work either. I hope Otello will come back soon but that we never see this production again.