Otello, LSO, Sir Colin Davis, Barbican

No giants in a tame concert performance of Verdi's late masterpiece

by David NiceSunday, 06 December 2009

Sir Colin Davis rehearsing the LSO last week: Starbursts and moonshine, but less of the broader sweepKevin Leighton/LSO

Let's suppose that off-centre genius among opera directors Richard Jones had been asked to bring his imagination to bear on Sir Colin Davis's latest Verdi-in-concert. I imagine he might have weighed up leading men, chorus and the conductor's unexpected blend of manicure with flash alongside swathes of masterful beauty, and decided to follow up his 1940s Windsor Falstaff at Glyndebourne with a 1970s Otello set in Surbiton.

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