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Otello Live at Schloss Elmau album cover

Album guide

Otello Live at Schloss Elmau

Dieter Ilg

Composer
Verdi
Released
2011
Label
ACT
Forces
Piano, Bass, Trio
Personnel
Dieter Ilg double bass, Rainer Böhm piano, Patrice Héral drums

Ilg traced Otello to the famous double-bass passage in Act IV, a melody that had stayed with him since his classical studies in Freiburg.

It surfaces in the closing title track as what he called the project’s “germ cell”.

This live version, recorded at Schloss Elmau in February 2011, began his association with ACT.

Hear both

The classical side contains only the source pieces used on the album, in album order. The jazz side presents the complete album whenever a dependable copy can be embedded.

The originalsVerdi · classical source works

The classical player uses eight recordings for the album’s eleven tracks. Tracks 3 and 5 share the Act I love duet “Già nella notte densa”, while tracks 7, 8 and 9 share the Act III concertato “A terra! sì… nel livido fango”; the other six tracks have one recording each.

Jazzed upDieter Ilg · 2011
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Source works

The album’s complete track listing, with each classical source identified and original compositions marked plainly.

  1. Fuoco Di GioiaOtello, Act I Scena I: the Fire Chorus, “Fuoco di gioia, l’ilare vampa”
  2. O LàOtello, Act I Scena II: Otello’s entrance, “Abbasso le spade! … Olà! Che avvien?”
  3. Quando NarraviOtello, Act I Scena III: the love duet “Già nella notte densa”, Desdemona’s “Quando narravi l’esule tua vita”
  4. JagoOtello, Act II: Iago’s “Credo in un Dio crudel”
  5. A Questa TuaOtello, Act I Scena III: the love duet “Già nella notte densa”, Otello’s “A questa tua preghiera ‘Amen’ risponda la celeste schiera”
  6. Dio! Mi PoteviOtello, Act III Scena III: Otello’s monologue “Dio! mi potevi scagliar tutti i mali”
  7. OrrorOtello, Act III Scena VIII: the company’s “Orror!”, the cry that ends the act
  8. Le Amare StilleOtello, Act III Scena VIII: the concertato “A terra! sì… nel livido fango”, Desdemona’s “non può asciugar le amare stille del mio dolor”
  9. MisteroOtello, Act III Scena VIII: the same concertato, the Cavalieri’s “Mistero! Mistero! Mistero!”
  10. Ave MariaOtello, Act IV Scena II: Desdemona’s prayer, “Ave Maria, piena di grazia”
  11. OtelloOtello, Act IV: the final scene from Otello’s entrance — the passage for divided double basses, and the closing scene it leads into