Otello with Placido Domingo and Sherrill Milnes as Iago and now I am testing as to what happens if your title is really long...

This is a video I uploaded to YouTube - a clip from Verd's Otello from the Metropolitan Opera, 1979. It is the tenor-baritone duet which ends the second act in a frenzy of emotion as Otello vows vengeance, believing Iago's lies about Desdemona's unfaithfulness. Placido Domingo is in the title role and his Iago is Sherrill Milnes. These two always worked wonderfully well together and put audiences in a euphoria of heightened emotions with their incredible voices and mastery of Verdi's style.

I tried to cut the video so one can experience the roaring eruption of the audience well before the music ends, generally not done at fancy opera houses like the Met, unless, as in the case with this particular performance, it is so exciting, people just cannot contain themselves. I started the clip a little before the big duet, where Iago has just told Otello about the handkerchief. That way, you don't miss Otello ripping his shirt open, crying, "Sangue, Sangue, SANGUE!!!", and dropping to his knees right before "Si, per ciel..." ("Yes, by heaven...") I probably watched this clip some thirty times while trying to work with the quality and learning how to edit videos, and still, it gives me a chill of excitement every time.

This video can be watched in its entirety at the Metropolitan Opera website for $4 or $5. I don't think the video has ever been released on dvd, however there are three separate commercial dvds available of live performances of the opera with Placido Domingo in the title role, not counting a Franco Zeffirelli movie. He also recorded the role in the studio at least two other times and performed the role live some 223 times. One of the commercial recordings of the opera, from La Scala in 2001 documented his last appearances in the role, as he retired the role at that time. If you are not familiar with the opera, Otello is a very difficult role, requiring a passionate temperament, and a big voice. Only a handful of tenors have made the role their own in the past century and Placido Domingo is one of, if not 'the' most beloved of all time.