Word: justino
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...with tender reminiscences only implied in the libretto. In Otello, however, flashbacks to the Moor's slave childhood are maudlin, and Zeffirelli's camera, jumping edgily from storm to massed choruses to brawls and bedrooms, tires the mind. As Otello, Tenor Placido Domingo is in robust voice, and Bass Justino Diaz makes a splendidly vile Iago. Yet Zeffirelli's presumption in heavily editing Verdi's taut masterpiece serves neither movie audiences nor opera lovers well, and the patina of homoeroticism that suffuses the film contradicts the heterosexual spirit of both libretto and score. No wonder he cut Desdemona...