Jonas Kaufmann (Otello), Marco Vratogna (Iago), Maria Agresta (Desdemona)
 Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Sir Antonio Pappano (conductor), Keith Warner (director)

Opera July 2018 Recording of the Month
 Presto Recording of the Week 11th May 2018

Opera July 2018
 Kaufmann’s exceptional musicality makes itself felt throughout the opera in a manner that has rarely been equalled in this history of recording…The vulnerability of this Otello lies not so much in his ethnic otherness as in his emotional ingenuousness…Agresta proves on the whole a worthy partner for Kaufmann, singing with attractively vibrant tone and admirable technical control…]Pappano] rivals Carlos Kleiber in his commanding grasp of the score’s architecture.

Presto Classical 11th May 2018
 Kaufmann thrives under the scrutiny of the camera..He has a formidable antagonist in the French baritone Marco Vratogna, whose apparent honesty is dressed up as a dysfunctional bluntness that borders on the psychopathic...Agresta’s radiant Desdemona is no ingenue but a mature and assured First Lady...and Antonio Pappano ensures that the orchestra anticipates every nuance from Kaufmann in particular. - Katherine Cooper

The Times 11th May 2018
 There can’t be much complaint about [Kaufmann's] singing’s mastery and beauty here; his eloquent phrasing and control of dynamics are exemplary whether the register is high or low...There’s a sense that he’s still feeling his way towards the part’s depths, while Vratogna’s insistent Iago and Maria Agresta’s warmly lyrically Desdemona, pointedly dressed in virginal white, are already in command. ***