Otello (usually singing it in German). The Russian heroic tenor Ivan Yershov was a renowned pre-World War I Otello in his native country. His compatriot Arnold Azrikan achieved his greatest recognition as a dramatic tenor in Otello. For this performance he was awarded the Stalin Prize in 1946. Enrico Caruso was studying "Otello" when he died unexpectedly in 1921, thus thwarting the New York Metropolitan Opera company's plans to stage the opera as a new vehicle for its star tenor. Currently, Plácido Domingo has appeared in more video productions of the opera than any other tenor. Also, he has recorded the
Giuseppe Verdi (1871), with three late masterpieces: his Requiem (1874), and the operas "Otello" (1887) and "Falstaff" (1893). His operas remain extremely popular, especially the three peaks of his 'middle period': "Rigoletto, Il trovatore" and "La traviata", and the 2013 bicentenary of his birth was widely celebrated in broadcasts and performances. Verdi, the first child of Carlo Giuseppe Verdi (1785–1867) and Luigia Uttini (1787–1851), was born at their home in Le Roncole, a village near Busseto, then in the Département Taro and within the borders of the First French Empire following the annexation of the Duchy of Parma and Piacenza in 1808.