Othello, mad with rage and jealousy, strikes
Desdemona to the earth, and drives every one from the hall. Then his
overtaxed brain reels, and he sinks swooning to the floor. The shouts of
the people outside acclaim him as the lion of Venice, while Iago, his
heel scornfully placed on Othello's unconscious breast, cries with
ghastly malevolence, 'Ecco il Leone.' The last act follows Shakespeare
very closely. Desdemona sings her Willow Song, and, as though conscious
of approaching calamity, bids Emilia a pathetic farewell. Scarcely are
her eyes closed in sleep, when Othello enters by a secret door, bent on
his fell purpose. He wakes her with a kiss, and after a brief scene
smothers her with a pillow. Emilia enters with the news of an attempt to
assassinate Cassio. Finding Desdemona lead, she calls for help. Cassio,
Montano, and others rush in; Iago's treachery is unmasked, and Othello
in despair stabs himself, dying in a last kiss upon his dead wife's
lips.
In 'Otello' Verdi advanced to undreamed-of heights of freedom and
beauty. 'Aida' was a mighty step towards the light, but with 'Otello' he
finally shook off the trammels of convention. His inexhaustible stream
of melody remained as pure and full as ever, while the more declamatory
parts of the opera, down to the slightest piece of recitative, are
informed by a richness of suggestion, and an unerring instinct for
truth, such as it would be vain to seek in his earlier work.
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