Donald Macleod introduces tonight's opera performance direct from the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.

Rossini's version of Shakespeare's Othello has suffered in reputation as a result of its loose adaptation. But taken on its own terms, Otello is one of the high points of Italian bel canto opera, and Rossini's setting of the final act was enough to make Verdi pause for thought when he was considering the same subject several years later.

Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden/Gianluigi Gelmetti

Act 1

8.10 Beyond Buffo
Graham Fawcett draws together the evidence from Rossini's life and operas to suggest that the composer of Otello was at least a semi-serious man.

8.40 Acts 2 and 3