Streaming now: an Anglo-Polish Otello
OperaOtello and Falstaff are thought by many to be at the pinnacle of Italian opera. These Shakespearean masterpieces, the last two operas ever written by Giuseppe Verdi, are the fruit of a remarkable collaboration between the composer and Arrigo Boito, the librettist almost 30 years his junior. Boito emphasises Otello’s stormy passion. Desdemona is a saintly idealisation and Iago a cynical villain on a diabolical scale. The essence of Verdi’s genius throughout his life lay in the wedding of poetry and song in balanced lyrical forms; what is different in these later collaborations with Boito is that these forms are not confined to arias and ensembles but blossom wherever poetry and the spirit of the drama suggests. Live from Poznań on the opening night of a new production, Slippedisc, courtesy of OperaVision, brings you this great opera presented here in the hands of another distinguished artistic pairing; British director David Pountney and Polish conductor Jacek Kaspszyk. High drama and passionate music taking us into the darker corners of the human mind.
The Plot: Victorious in battle, admired by his men, loved by his wife – fate seems to smile on Otello. Happy moments, however, pass imperceptibly when the hero’s mind begins to be gripped by suspicion and jealousy seeps into the heart. And doubts lead to destruction.
Subtitles in English, Italian and Polish.
Live on 25 November 2023 at 1900 CET / 1800 London / 1300 New York
This production is distinguished the worst Otello I have heard in all my 50+ years of listening to opera. It was really over for the tenor at the “Esultate”. Why do opera companies mount operas that they cannot adequately cast is a mystery. The production is updated and boring. Don’t waste your time.
To paraphrase OJ, an “ugly-ass” production…not interesting or enlightening in any way that I can perceive.