The San Francisco Opera concludes the fall season of 2009 with performances of Giuseppe Verdi's penultimate Shakespearean masterwork Otello, and if you were still considering last-minute attendance, you really ought to grab your tickets before it is too late.

There is enough that is right about the Peter Hall production, imported from Lyric Opera of Chicago, to make a recommendation. Nevertheless, only respectful and tepid praise about the staging can be raised to the level of genuine enthusiasm by a sincere endorsement of the musical performance. Hall and production designer John Gunter have sent us a good-looking opera, but conductor Nicola Luisotti and a trio of superior singers (especially one remarkable debut artist) have made it a great-sounding one.

Damn the sets, lighting, and crowd control, we all know Otello ultimately needs the highest quality of singers to satisfy. The genius of Verdi's and librettist Arrigo Boito's collaboration makes tremendous demands on all the vocalists (including the chorus), and the orchestral support must also rise to a symphonic level. There are many moments when the musicians in the pit are required to make dramatic contributions far exceeding sympathetic accompaniment. Having the best voices currently available and a conductor in love with the score (and, apparently, his new job, too) has helped to make the SFO's season finale an exciting if not unqualified hit.

An annoying trend in many modern opera productions seems to rely on dark and shadowy sta

Johan Botha (Otello) and Svetla Vassileva (Desdemona) in San Francisco Opera's Otello. Photo: Cory Weaver

ge pictures to approximate a sort of visual reality. We know it wasn't energy efficiency that prompted Duane Schuler to keep John Gunter's impressive, multi-storied set in murky darkness throughout most of Act I. Things improved later, but he could have raised the wattage during all of the remaining acts without a complaint from me.

Verdi does start the drama with a raging storm, and Schuler punctuated the action with the occasional illuminating lightning strike. The celebratory dance by a bonfire after Otello's victory at sea also looked impressive using real flames, but it was just plain irritating straining at seeing what the actors were up to the rest of the time. The handsome, dark-hued costumes also disappeared in the gloom. If the visuals forced us to rely more on our other senses, that was a surprising dividend that actually paid more homage to the glories of the thrilling score.

Making his highly anticipated SFO debut in the title role, South African tenor Johan Botha fulfilled expectations with an impressive voice, almost as big as his physical presence. If there were moments when he seemed slightly taxed, his international reputation as a big-league Otello is still well-earned, and I admired his ringing tone and vocal stamina. Oddly enough, big Botha is an almost-diminutive actor. His stage presence may be visually striking, but his generalized acting and lack of emotive range made a weak impression. Thankfully, he has the compensating strength to convince us of Otello's turmoil in his voice.

The real debut revelation of the production came with the appearance of Italian baritone Marco Vratogna as a mean (oh, really mean) and seriously sexy Iago. Vratogna didn't need a follow spot to rivet our attention. His acting matched his bright, controlled voice, and the coiled energy of his performance, complete with cocky swagger, exploded now and then, making an utterly convincing portrayal.

As the cruelly vilified Desdemona, Bulgarian soprano Zvetelina Vassileva may have turned in a monochromatic acting job, but the role can handle a woe-is-me approach and remain plausible. What really mattered was the purity of Vassileva's throaty production. She does not have much warmth, but I was pleased by her tone and ever-so-slightly hard edge. She is pretty to look at, and of all the performers onstage, the easiest to see, dressed in pale and becomingly chaste colors.

The remaining vocal characters were all more than adequate, especially mezzo-soprano Renee Tatum as a suitably distraught Emilia. Merola Opera Program alumnus Beau Gibson was fine as Cassio. The Opera Chorus, getting lots of action from Boito and Verdi, made a fine season finale showing under the direction of Ian Robertson.

Luisotti, fresh from his recent triumph with Salome, also continues to impress with his obvious grasp of whatever assignment he is tackling. Now if someone would only crank up the lights so we could get a better look at it, this Otello would be 100%.