The so-called Rossini Renaissance (post-WWII) was an outright revolution, as it led to the rediscovery and staging of a great number of Rossini operas, especially of the serious genre. Otello, one of the finest of Rossini's serious works, marked one of the first encounters in the history of Italian opera between a composer and Shakespeare's theatre. Although Rossini later revised the ending away from it's fateful, tragic outcome, this production, recorded live in 2014 at Antwerp's Vlaanderen Opera, is based on the Rossini Foundation's critical edition and has the first, tragic finale.