Salvini, Tommaso
Salvini, Tommaso (1829–1915),Italian actor whose Othello and Hamlet at Vicenza in 1856 were landmarks in the performance of Shakespeare in Italy. Salvini pursued an international career for which his magnificent physique, expressive features, and vocal musicality made him supremely well suited and Shakespeare's plays provided a lingua franca. London first thrilled to his Othello in 1875 and marvelled as the veneer of the Moor's ‘civilization’ gave way to the groundswell of elemental, passionate jealousy. The admirers of his demonstrative and dismayed Macbeth were more numerous than those of his generous and glowing Hamlet, but it was on the basis of his Othello that he was judged—by Modjeska—‘the foremost tragedian of our times’.
Richard Foulkes
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