On Wednesday night at Carnegie Hall, New York had the opportunity to hear “the other ‘Otello'” — the one that Rossini wrote in 1816. This was 70 years before Verdi tackled that same play. Presenting the Rossini was Opera Orchestra of New York, under its founderconductor, Eve Queler. We had a satisfying evening, thanks to both Rossini and OONY.

This was a concert performance, of course, as OONY’s always are. According to a company press release, Rossini’s “Otello” was last staged in this town in 1968, when the Rome Opera brought it to the Met. “Otello” is true Rossini, showing his astounding skill.

And it is a tenorfest: You need three leading tenors in your cast — for Otello, Rodrigo, and Iago. Yes, even Iago. Isn’t it nice that a low voice is not the villain, for a change? And Ms. Queler had all the personnel necessary. It looked like a convention of Rossini tenors up on that stage; ordinarily, it’s hard to acquire even one.

All of our tenors acquitted themselves honorably. Yes, they strained and suffered from time to time — but that is almost a given, what with Rossini’s demanding writing.

The star of the show was to be Mexico’s Ramón Vargas, singing the title role. But he had to withdraw, owing to illness. In his place was the American Bruce Ford, a veteran Rossini tenor. Mr. Ford was tight and frayed, now and then, but he sang with confidence: with smarts, authority, and even some panache. And he was at his best in the final act, which is a good time to be at your best.

Mr. Ford did a touch of acting, and this was appropriate. In his bearing, he was always the proud general — even when Otello was disintegrating.

Another American, Kenneth Tarver, was Rodrigo, and he sang freshly and easily, especially in the early going. Later on, he tightened up, and thinned out (tonally); also, his pitch sagged. But, overall, Mr. Tarver had a fine outing.

Iago was another American tenor, Robert McPherson, and he boasts an unusual sound: It is sweet, alive, and altogether interesting. Not the kind of sound you hear every day, or that comes from a cookie cutter. And, for a lyric tenor, Mr. McPherson boasts quite a lot of power. That’s a really lucky combo: power and lyricism.

So, those were the three main tenors, and we are not yet done with tenors: Uruguay’s Gaston Rivero took on two roles — those of the Doge and the Gondolier. What a beautiful, beautiful, arresting voice. It will be a pleasure to hear him in coming years, as he assumes larger roles. And Guillermo Lagundino, an American, did well in the brief part of Lucio.

Was there a bass or baritone around? Yes, the American baritone Daniel Mobbs, portraying Desdemona’s awful father, Elmiro. He has a rich and velvety sound, and he sang with security.

How about the women? Well, Desdemona is a big part in Rossini’s “Otello,” and it was superbly filled by Ruxandra Donose, the Romanian mezzo-soprano. That is an extraordinary instrument — having a little mezzo smoke in it, and a little Eastern European smoke. It also has a quick vibrato, and, in the lower register, a little throb. And, on Wednesday night, this voice seemed more beautiful the louder it got!

The world is fortunate in mezzosopranos from Eastern Europe. In OONY’s previous performance — of Donizetti’s final opera, “Dom Sébastien” — we heard Vesselina Kasarova, the marvelous Bulgarian. As Desdemona, Ms. Donose had little trouble with passagework, and she showed a very wide vocal range — this character sings a million high Cs. And Ms. Donose got to the heart of Desdemona, the most wronged woman in all the world. She was lovely and pure, but also brave and determined.

Singing Emilia was the American mezzo Maria Zifchak, who brought her strong, no-nonsense voice. She also brought a quality much to be prized: musical definition.

In truth, the singing in this opera begins in the overture — and the clarinet and the oboe performed enticingly. Later, the clarinet provided some slick, delightful licks. And the horn proved stalwart. Also stalwart was the chorus, the Oratorio Society of New York, although its diction was occasionally obscure.

Maestro Queler led the proceedings with her customary competence. At times, however, she allowed her orchestra to be too big for the bel canto singers under her care.

In sum, OONY did its job: It presented an opera seldom heard, and an opera very much worth hearing; and it did so with a string of able and interesting singers.

I urge you to become acquainted with Rossini’s “Otello,” if you can. And, by the way, he wrote several other operas in 1816 — including “The Barber of Seville” and “La Cenerentola.” What did you accomplish that year?