A dependable rather than a revelatory evening; yet productions of Verdi's late, great Shakespearian masterpiece are not so common that any Verdian will want to miss this Glyndebourne revival of Peter Hall's problematic 2001 production, for all its self-imposed limitations. Many of the difficulties are down to Hall's half-hearted updating of the action to the Napoleonic period, which adds little to the narrative, and to John Gunter's set, which displaces too much of the action and attention on to multistorey verandahs that cool the white heat of Verdi's depictions of the central relationships. Otello works best when it is sung down at the footlights.
The particular strengths of this Otello are both Russian. Vladimir Jurowski, season by season confirming what a far-sighted choice he was as Glyndebourne's music director, is still feeling his way into the subtler moments of the score, but he conducts with arresting dramatic grip and great tenderness. Perhaps he allowed Tatiana Monogarova to stretch Desdemona's Willow Song too extravagantly, but this soprano has the bright, forward sound that the role demands if Desdemona is to be more than merely passive. By some distance, she provided the most ambitious singing of the night.
Blacked-up in the title role - is this really necessary any longer? - David Rendall sings all the notes, something even Ben Heppner failed to do in Covent Garden's recent revival. Rendall's best moments come in the big, declaratory passages that lie in the middle of the voice, such as the act two duet with Iago, and in Otello's last soliloquy. But he lacks the vocal colours to illuminate the more inward scenes in the crucial middle acts, and there is a persistent lack of the stage presence a memorable Otello requires. This is compounded by the frustratingly bland Iago of Anthony Michaels-Moore. The British baritone has a distinctive velvety voice, but an Iago he is not. One longed for a bit of real, pungent Italian ham rather than this frankly dull interpretation. No one coming fresh to this opera would ever guess from this version that Verdi seriously considered calling it Iago.
· Until August 28. Box office: 01273 813813.
