Volume 2 of My Greatest Roles - Verdi

Plácido Domingo as Otello, Manrico (IL TROVATORE) and Ernani. Volume 2 of Plácido Domingo - My Greatest Roles is really great.

Verdi's OTELLO from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden with Kiri Te Kanawa as Desdemona and Sergei Leiferkus as Jago. As wonderful as that version is I just happen to love the Zeffirelli film with Katia Ricciarelli and Justino Diaz. But of course the video from ROH gives one all the music.

Then it is Verdi's Ernani. I have had this on VHS for many years. The recording is from La Scala in Milan with Mirella Freni, Nicolai Ghiaurov and Renato Bruson. And heart-throb Plácido Domingo as the bandit Ernani. Not only is it on DVD but also on CD Verdi: Ernani. Ernani is not Giuseppe Verdi's most exciting opera or has the best melodies but it is a Verdi work and therefore important and add to Plácido Domingo creating one of his best works... Maybe it is enough just to have the whole opera on CD.

The best moments in Volume 2 all come from IL TROVATORE. It is from Vienna State Opera. It is old, the vision, but AH, so real. Raina Kabaivanska might not be your favorite Leonora but still she is wonderful. Piero Cappuccilli is wonderful as Di Luna. Marvellous. Fiorenza Cossotta as Azucena, there is nothing like her. And Plácido, oh, he is OK. Or even wonderful. But the whole impact of this Trovatore, I still feel it.

So go get Volume 2 just for Trovatore or Otello or Ernani or just buy one of them. Or not...







And of course, then it is DVD no 4 with Plácido telling how he feels about Otello, Trovatore and Ernani. I haven't watched that yet.

And have bought this Volume 2 myself. So now I have bought from Amazon, the documentary, Volume 1,2 and 3. But I was sick so I haven't watched no 3 yet.
For more reviews from my travels, see www.operaduetstravel.com