Impresarios being desperate for a Black Otello, the imaginative and deeply musical American tenor Russell Thomas has been swatting away many offers. Though Verdi is very much in in his wheelhouse, the powerhouse Moor of Venice really is not—as Thomas himself has often acknowledged. Still, he accepts the prestigious challenge now and again, at what long-term cost to his vocal health who can predict. For now, his robust and burnished instrument isn’t showing the strain. And the Royal Opera House, with its 2,256 seats (against the Met’s 3,800), should showcase him to advantage. The Armenian soprano Hrachuci Bassénz appears as the luminous Desdemona, with the British baritone Christopher Maltman as Iago, who turns Otello against her. Daniele Rustioni conducts. —Matthew Gurewitsch