Ever since Shakespeare wrote the original, classic play, there have been lots of Othello's around. To prove it, we went to an online database mainly devoted to movies, and found not only 20 or so cinematic takes on the drama, but about a half-dozen TV shows as well, and even a couple of entries under the highly-regarded "Made for Video" category.

The movies alone provide a pretty good look at the variety of Othello treatments at your disposal. There's everything from a 1922 silent version, starring Ica von Lenkeffy as Desdemona; to the 1965 Lawrence Olivier version; to the more recent film, O, starring Mekhi Phifer as the Othello-based character and Julia Stiles as his Desdemona. We admit we haven't seen that last one but, still, we're intrigued by the character designated, "Assistant Coach," in the cast list. Would that be Rodrigo, or Emilia?

Of course, we'd contend that, despite all these worthy efforts, the most brilliant retelling of Shakespeare's Othello isn't a movie, or a TV program, or a play. It's Giuseppe Verdi's Otello, one of the finest operas any composer ever wrote. And it's Verdi's searing version of the drama that's coming up this week from the Vienna State Opera. In fact, it's the first production from that lengendary company to appear in our series in more than 20 years. And don't worry, it won't be the last one from the Staatsoper for another two decades -- there are several more Vienna productions in the works for coming weeks and months. This one stars Franz Botha as Otello, Krassimira Stoyanova as Desdemona, and Falk Struckmann as Iago.