Otello (1986 film) Otello (1986 film) Otello is a 1986 film based on the Giuseppe Verdi opera of the same name, which was itself based on the Shakespearean play "Othello". The film was directed by Franco Zeffirelli and starred Plácido Domingo in the title role, Katia Ricciarelli as Desdemona and Justino Díaz as Iago. For the movie's soundtrack, Lorin Maazel conducted the Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro alla Scala. The film premiered in West Germany on August 28, 1986 and received a U.S. theatrical release on September 12, 1986. It was nominated for a Bafta Award and a Golden Globe for Best
Fanny Salvini-Donatelli was only relative. In addition to the applause for Salvini-Donatelli's aria, the orchestral "Prelude" was so well received that the audience began to shout for Verdi, who had to take curtain calls even before the curtain went up on the first act. Things only started derailing in the second act, especially the singing of the baritone (Felice Varesi) and the tenor (Lodovico Graziani). "La traviata" also did quite well at the box office. It ran for ten performances at La Fenice that season, with an average evening profit more than double that of Verdi's other two operas in the repertory