I for one am very excited to finally get to see the actual ballet to this one. I've been a fan of the work on CD since I found the album. The few minutes of music that didn't make the album should also be interesting to hear.

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Originally posted by Marian Schedenig:
If I'm not very mistaken, this is being prepared for a DVD release too. I can't wait (having never heard it).

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In fact, it should already be available.

More info here:
http://www.iclassics.com/iclassics/album.jsp?selectionId=49823

The music worked exceptional within the context of the dance. I was amazed with how well I was able to follow the story of Othello without words. I read the original work a long time ago in High School, but I had forgotten much of it.

There wasn't much missing music from the rather generous Varese album, but I made sure to note what wasn't there (in case anyone cares).

-A short litle ditty where children present the hankerchief to Othello and Desdemonna. It's mostly piano and not very heavily orchestrated.

-Amidst the Tarantella dance, there is a sequence that continues the thematic ideas of Act II. Music gets even darker as Othello confronts Desdemonna. I absolutely love this part that didn't make it. There's a lot of continued Saxaphone playing (or moaning if you will).

-There's a really violent outburst followed by some more sweeping music for Othello and Desdemonna's dance after Cassio is imprisoned at the start of Act III. It then gets really fast with the horns blasting hits. It reminds me a lot of the action music in Sphere.

-A lot of little continuation pieces and extensions to Lies and Variations.

Once again, I'd recommend that people try to track down this album if they are Goldenthal fans. It's one of his better works.

I also watched this last night, and it was my first ballet as well. I LOVE the album, and it is surely one of Goldenthal's purest works - no electronics or gimmicks, it's one of his most accessible and exciting scores in my book.

You are right on about the unreleased music (I wish those few extra minutes in the Tarantella had been included, but oh well). It was also interesting to hear a different performance of the score - the album has a bit more polish to it, but overall the live playing in last nights performance was terrific. Goldenthal really achieved a huge sound from 'the pit' easily making 50-60 musicians sound like 90. Reminds me of how Phillip Glass had to pair down his orchestra for two of his operas (Satyagraha - no brass or percussion / Akhnaten - no violins) to fit them into the orchestra pit - apparently this wasn't a concern for Goldenthal!

There was a little more 'jazz' to some of those pieces as well, or maybe those elements were mixed more towards the forefront. Now, I wish that more of 'our' composers would work in this medium, or at least the ones that have been written by film composers would be released on video.