CLASSICAL MUSIC: Love, Death, Great Singing

Only a few weeks after the backstage sturm und drang of the Kathleen Battle affair, the Metropolitan Opera put an enthralling tempest where it belongs -- before an audience. The occasion was a spectacular new production of Giuseppe Verdi's masterpiece Otello, in which astute direction, dazzling conducting and a first-rate cast led by Placido Domingo all combined to create a profound operatic experience.

From the opening storm to the final kiss, this Otello displays all the strengths of modern production technique. The previous version, by Franco Zeffirelli, had sets so detailed that they looked suitable for a CinemaScope film. With their marble pillars and faux Titians, Michael Yeargan's new designs are nearly as lavish, but they are more subdued, allowing director Elijah Moshinsky to personalize the drama. Otello clutches his head in pain after his triumphant conquest of the Turks in Act I, prefiguring his complete moral and physical collapse two acts later; Desdemona tenderly but gingerly strokes her husband's face at their reunion, her love already mingled with fear.

No tenor seizes the title role like Domingo, whose vocal potency and dramatic intensity have redefined the part. As Desdemona, Carol Vaness caresses Verdi's most beautiful music with a pure, radiant soprano, while in the pit, Russian conductor Valery Gergiev, making his Met debut, leads the score with raw power and passion. The live radio broadcast is April 2; be prepared to be taken by storm.