Trouble in Venice as tenor spurns white-face Otello
OperaFrancesco Meli is due to sing Verdi’s Otello at La Fenice.
He expected the director to give him some make up to darken his features when portraying the great Moor. But the director Fabio Cerese refused, saying he did not want the character depicted that way.
Meli has gone to the media, telling Il Giornale: ‘I do not agree with being a white Otello.’
He has more to say: ‘Otello’s geographical origin and therefore his skin color have a dramatic value; the thesis is that the white Iago is the evil one who goes to instigate Othello, leading him to commit a crime.
‘Opera has lost the connotations of its identity, (which) musicals and ballet still retain. When you go to see Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake you want to see the swans, the feathers, just as no one dreams of the Phantom of the Opera set in the Bronx or in a garbage dump. The paradox is that we have opened ourselves to dialogue with the public, but we are losing the public.’
Go argue with that.
I’ve seen middle-aged women pretending to be horny page boys in Le Nozze di Figaro, where being a horny page boy is absolutely integral to their identity in the piece. I’ve seen singers in their 40s play teenage lovers in Romeo et Juliette. I’ve seen very mortal singers play gods, dragons, and Rhinemaidens in Wagner. I’ve seen men made of flesh play moving cemetary statues in Don Giovanni. I’ve seen Egyptian guards in the Met’s production of Aida, who in the video recording have handlebar moustaches fit for a motorcycle club in Tennessee. I’ve even heard Japanese teenage girls singing in Italian in Madame Butterfly.
But sure, all that is ‘acting’, but we have to draw the line at ‘if Otello isn’t in blackface no one will believe him’?
The fact that Otello is different–different from everyone else on stage–is central to the plot.
As is the age difference between Butterfly and Pinkerton. Not that we have any issue having them played by middle aged singers who look very middle aged.
Or, you know, the fact that Leonora can actually pass for a credible hot young man.
The point is that art is – always – about the suspension of disbelief, to various degrees. Even hyperrealistic art. And there’s a weird fixation with ‘Otello must be black’ that we don’t apply to anything else.
But he is black,so why make him white,its like casting james bond as a woman.its all woke nonsense gone mad.on another note,im sick of these wokey opera directors destroying operas with ridiculous sets,costumes etcthey have been given far too much control.give control back to the singers,after all its them we want to see.
You don’t ’make him white’, do you? You just let him be played by whoever plays him well.
The point of the play and the opera is that Othello / Otello IS black, and vulnerable and in the grip of fragile love (and his blackness is paradoxically part of that fragility and strength) – so slap the makeup on and get on with it. Silly, pointless arguments. I am so fed up with these woke-ists – yawn yawn yawn. It is so TEDIOUS. If a few people are offended – tough titties. I am more interested in Verdi’s masterpiece being performed well. Wish I could go see…
The fact that you cannot perform an opera without full makeup and costumes will come as big news to anyone who’s ever watched a concert-staging of an opera.
And again, if 40-year old Frederica von Stade can be an excellent teenage boy, you’ll excuse me for not buying the ‘Otello must be black’ whining.
By the way, nothing in Meli’s comments says that the director didn’t want Otello to be in Blackface for “woke” reasons – what if it’s simply an artistic choice? Or is there only one way to stage opera now?
How many times can you use “woke”, “wokey”, or some other undefinable, meaningless word in one sentence?
Yes, but it is not the fact that Otello is a Moor that defines his vulnerability to Iago’s evil plotting, but his unhinged temperament. Such temperaments are not dependent on skin colour.
When Otello’s skin colour is taken as a racist slur, this implies the acceptance of the idea that all dark-skinned people are supposed to be unhinged, which is a kind of inverted racism. And thus people go around in loops.
In the original story, Otello is the courageous, victorious king, who is being subverted by a jealous, nasty character. When this is read as a covert racist slur, it is taking ancient prejudice seriously, and that element should simply be ignored because being nonsensical. The same with the ‘dog whistle’ accusations of the plots in Wagner’s operas where nasty characters are supposed to be depicted as Jews but only in such a way to be only understood by people who are already antisemitic.
If people see a problem with Otello being a Moor, they should lay the responsibility at Shakespeare’s feet, but let Otello be dark, real or with make-up.
Sure – but Shakespeare wrote in the 17th century. We perform his plays differently from how he did it, even in period performances. There’s a gulf between Vivaldi’s opera house and today’s (and not only the castrati).
So there are obvious limits to ‘well in Shakespeare’s time it was ok to wear blackface’.
Cogent.
Or at the feet of Cinthio, maybe.
Yes, the line ‘I loved not wisely but too well.’
As we have said before, dark makeup is not the same thing as “black face.”
‘Blackface’ is irrelevant to anyone outside a small band of ill-educated American grievance seekers. Vesti la gubbia, Francesco.
Giubba.
Absolutely right. And the play/libretto specifically refers to his being black/dark. That difference is a critical feature of the play/libretto.
And the libretto to Don Giovanni refers to the Commendatore being a stone statue.
We should also ban sopranos with big hands from playing Mimi, as the libretto (Che gelida manina) explicitly states she has small, delicate hands, and that is an essential plot device.
In opera, we cannot ignore the visuals, the ‘make-believe’ only goes so far as visuals allow.
I absolutely agree with you Emil, but I am most impressed you are willing to rebut each and every objection, patiently and intelligently.
Hahaha.. Love the sense of humour! Big hugs!!!
Billy: ‘Maybe it’s a good idea to have Otello in white face, and Iago in black face instead. And Desdemona could be trans or something so.’
More importantly, there are several black tenors capable of singing the role at international level, who should be considered first for the role.
That’s terribly racist, he’s a Moor, so it has to be a dramatic tenor of North African/Middle Eastern descent.
Also he should be a Muslem and with a track record in ancient-style naval battle victories.
Hahaha! Spot on! (Olivier comes to mind – “Why don’t you try acting, dear boy…”)
The best singer should be considered first for the role.
Not sure I agree or disagree, but anyway, for all we know the tenors you are thinking of were considered first for the role and weren’t available….
I can’t say I am aware of any black tenors who would be able to perform the role of Verdi’s Otello. .I suspect such artists would receive more offers than they could ever handle.
Russel Thomas sang it at Covent Garden a couple of years ago and has sung it elsewhere to great acclaim. In any generation there are only a handful of singers who can genuinely handle the role, if that, so realistically when trying to cast it there aren’t always a lot of options, so I’m sure he is inundated with offers to sing it.
Yes, Russell Thomas, Russell Thomas, Russell Thomas! He has been burning through the tenor repertoire with great acclaim for several years. He’s hired for his voice and acting abilities, not for any quota. Mr. Brennan ought not to be making pronouncements without without the facts.
Classic Dom. Save on the make-up then? Even if it might not be the right decision musically or dramatically?
Good Lord, that could be applied to zillions of roles. I believe in blind casting, and your solution is racist and discriminatory.
Haven’t seen a dark-skinned Otello, Aida, Monostatos for years.
I can never understand why these PC people approve of a man dressing as a woman but then say a man cannot wear dark make-up to appear like the character he is playing.
JTS your comment really made me think for a bit, which – to me anyway – makes it more valuable than easily more than 99% of online comments. And while I probably mostly disagree with your thesis, it’s a reasonable one. But then I thought a bit more (again, thumbs up) and I’d suggest that, at least in many cases, it’s not the same group of folks expressing these views.
Congratulations, you just discovered structural forces.
No one says a man “cannot” wear dark make-up to play the role, but many people think he shouldn’t. If the acting and singing is excellent why would he need to?
The man stands there and says he is black. The others so refer to him. Get real. (Or in this case made up).
Excellent comment. The actor should just say that he identifies as black and wishes to enhance his looks.A friend of mine has a great great grandfather who was black. But he, my friend, looks pretty white. Is he BAME or not? In one way perhaps we all are. Waiting for the thumbs down.
It should not be forgotten that all humans descend from very, very black people from subsahara areas. So, in a way we are all migrants.
Are there even any people in the audience to care?
It’s an insult to the elderly when young actors play them as doddering old fools.
Bring back blackface!
He is no Otello anyway so what does it matter if he’s black or white
Quite correct,now francesco merli on the other hand was a good otello along with vinay and best of all del monaco
I’ve seen Cyrano de Bergerac without the big nose.
I’ve seen Acis and Galatea in an Irish pub.
Your job is to sing, not to think
His origin is a major point in Othello’s downfall and a severe problem in this opera. Erasing that and going against the text doesn’t make any sense. Opera and theater are really infected by this “modern society”- problem. “Woyzeck” played only with female characters f.e. (… what about the child, a major character in the piece (?) … and a lot of other contradictions), I once witnessed a performance of “Pique Dame” … the homosexuality of the composer was transferred to the female heroine and while she was busy with her female servant (second floor left of the “Schuhschachtelbühne”) her lover was busy singing downstairs center/right – – why on earth should she kill herself for him or he himself for her? Of course I didn’t buy the expensive program with the “explanations” and enjoyed the wonderful music, played by BerlinPhil under Kirill Petrenko, and the singing (minus staging). The best seats in Baden-Baden for opera are category 8 – second balcony, row one – great acoustic, staging not fully visible unless one takes the risk of falling down.
Othello was a Moor therefore brown never black!
Brave of SlippedDisc to come out as pro-blackface in the year of our Lord 2024. Surely attitudes like this will bring a younger and more diverse crowd into a medium that constantly complains that they need new patrons and that their audience is dying off. Foolishness.
Stage make-up is not “blackface.” They are apples and oranges.
I believe Otello must be “black” even if it requires make-up. His race is part of his character and the plot, whether it’s Shakespeare’s play or the opera based on it.
How dare they sing in Italian? As it is their duty to adhere to american DEI norms they surely must do it only in English. Using a language that most Americans do not understand is pure racism.
Otello is a Moor, that is Shakespeare’s story. Moor’s are not pasty white. No Director should ever be given that sort of free hand to completely obliterate the essence of a character of an opera. So it comes down to either finding an ethnically appropriate tenor to sing the role, or make up Otello appropriately, DEI be damned.
Numerous potential visual symbolizers of the Moor’s origins exist. Should a white singer also refrain from wearing Moorish jewelry and garments? Should the set make no reference to Moorish architecture? Should the text be changed? Yes, the themes of Otello revolve around jealousy, but this is a staged opera, not a radio broadcast, so appearances matter in as much as they serve the drama and historical context.
Whatever happened to the concept of intent behind racism? Racism, after all, expounds the odious idea that one human being can be inferior to another by virtue of “race” – read skin colour, or ethnicity, since there is only one human race – alone. But colouring your skin as an actor to portray any person not of your own physical appearance for the sake of verisimilitude – older, younger, another gender, other physical features relevant to the drama like fat suits or big noses, ethnicity etc. – carries with it zero intent to promote such a vicious doctrine. They are simply disconnected ideas that have been irrationally re-connected because of old TV shows in the US whose fundamental intent very probably were racist.
But that was then. This is now, and a whole other set of intentions and motivations apply. And we have progressed! Why is this not clear? Why are we incapable of telling the difference between indicating ethnicity on stage and promoting racism? And really, who is offended? Name a single Moor who objects, because this particular context no more concerns African Americans than it does Maasai Tanzanians or Aboriginal australians.
Aww… is little Francesco triggered by directorial choices???
The irony of some commenters here pitching a fit about WOKENESS, while themselves complaining incessantly about the world outside their four walls. To all of you I say: GROW UP. Live and let live!
What childishness, for this tenor to undermine the director by blabbing and whining to the press. It takes a village to make an opera. If he really cares this much, he could quit the production. That way someone who is a true team player could step into his place.
Shocking!! What?? Francesco Meli singing Otello??!!
He can’t even sing Radamès, how the hell is he going to sing Otello?
The last thing Meli needs to worry about in this role isn’t the color of his face, it’s the color of his voice.
The makeup does not make the man.
Would Verdi have thought “just get on and sing”? Would, mutatis mutandis, Shakespeare? I suggest not. As a Moor and an alien, Othello gives the Venetian state an interesting dilemma. The even greater “alien” is the belligerent Turkish nation and its fearsome navy, which Othello (a Christian convert, not Muslim) embodies Venice’s only hope of defeating. But there is another implicit alien / enemy – the only character a seventeenth-century English audience would recognise as having a specifically Spanish name: Iago. Moral complexities, and ignoring them, or the representation of them, is treating the opera as just some fine old tunes.
Has anybody actually considered asking someone from the Maghreb to comment, or is it solely for white and black people to decide, in spite of the fact that Otello is neither?
There are other things about him and inside him that make him “black”. Skin colour is not that important.
Yes. When Shakespeare wrote the play, “blackness” was associated with “male” characteristics and “whiteness” with female characteristics (gentleness, kindness etc). His audience would have understood this association. Othello’s “blackness” is really his readiness to ander and resort to violence without reason. His audience understood that males should not be “black” and needed their strength to be tempered by reason. It really has nothing to do with racial characteristics at all…that would be anachronistic.
I’m so sick of men dominating the role of Othello. Time for a woman to show them how to do it properly.
Oh yes—a white Othello will certainly go a long way in addressing systemic racism. Such is the blinkered view of moral rectitude that seems to have so many otherwise intelligent people in its thrall.
That whirring sound you hear is Shakespeare and Verdi spinning in their graves….
For what it’s worth, Signor Meli might have had a kindred spirit in the late Stephen Sondheim:
https://www.stlpr.org/arts/2018-10-04/legendary-lyricist-sondheim-dismisses-protests-calling-for-color-conscious-casting-as-ridiculous
Isn’t there a way to take a middle ground on this?
It’s possible to do Otello white, but there has to be a dramatically compelling reason.
Years ago Patrick Stewart did Othello in which he was a white actor with an all-black cast. It made dramatic sense.
If you come up with a dramatically compelling reason to make Otello something other than a moor, why not?
It makes no dramatic sense whatsoever. Othello is black. What is wrong with that? (Please answer that?) Iago is racist (and evil, yada yada) before racism was even categorised. Besides – the play isn’t really about racism very much – Shakespeare had not much concept of that – it’s more about the nature of evil (and love) – and Iago’s hatred of Othello involves everything that Othello is and Iago isn’t. Othello’s blackness is an intrinsic part of him that makes him an outsider. It’s about an outsider in every way in the “super-subtle” Venetian state. Directors have got their knickers in a twist over this play for decades now, just because it is about a black hero.
Let’s go with Shakespeare…. and Verdi. The tenor concerned here (regardless of his ability) is completely right.
What’s wrong with it is that if there is only one way to do anything, it’s fundamentalist. That’s true whether it’s woke or the ultratraditional fanaticism that made woke possible.
Anyway, I don’t know why I’m answering this. It’s clearly just a bait to have a fight…
What is fundamentalist about being black?
And PS – it’s not a fight – it’s an important discussion we should not shy away from. Why is it a fight? And what about my Rigoletto comment below? Please answer that.
This is an imposition of USA race politics onto Europe. Wearing slightly dark make-up to resemble a north-African character you are playing in a tragic opera is not the same as “blackface”, a movement in which white Americans (who upheld apartheid for most of the 20th century, unlike any European country) painted their faces black to deliberately humiliate and caricature black people. There is simply no connection between this and serious theatre in which actors play characters of all sorts of backgrounds, deploying every cell in their being to empathise with that character and stand in their shoes.
Bravo, Ed, if I may. Spot on.
Yes, it is sad that gross and demeaning caricature has become conflated with make-up whose purpose is simply to indicate ancestry where appropriate.
Ever since people rightly revolted against the grossness of the ‘black’ minstrels in the Black and White Minstrel Show on British TV, UK theatres seem to have been scared to recognise a difference between that and racially-appropriate make-up.
Here’s a thought: is Rigoletto only allowed to be played / sung by a hunchback? Or – perish the thought – could he be played by an actor / singer using stage costume and makeup? Please answer that one…
Othello is a moop, not a moor!!!
The only good comment here. Get out of your classical bubble boys.
The arguments here are getting nowhere because the underlying issues don’t really connect with each other.
Sure, opera is full of unrealism (older singers playing teenagers, people of various races playing characters of other races, un-athletic guys playing successful soldiers, etc.) The deal has always been that you cast someone who *sounds* like the role (since that’s the dimension in which the role is really drawn by the dramatist), and then that person dresses and acts in a way that embodies the story as far as possible, while we in turn suspend as far as possible our observations on whatever contradictions remain. That has *always* been the working principle in opera. The other way (looking the part but not sounding it) is non-functional.
Entirely unrelated to this: There is a special argument about white people using dark makeup, which is a rather thoughtless conflation of “makeup” with “blackface.” The latter was an American entertainment tradition whose point was to make condescending comedy out of (what white people supposed to be) the cheerful and quirky song-and-dance ways of former slaves and their descendants. Many of the people raging over dark makeup for Aida or Otello don’t even know the history of actual blackface, and they certainly don’t understand that history if they think it offers suggestions about how to interpret pieces that have nothing to do with American stereotypes.
And then the third strand, which has little or nothing to do with either of those two, is the newer but already very tired tradition of re-writing operas to make them say what’s on the mind of the stage director. One time in fifty, that mind might be interesting enough to make good theater out of the re-write. Ruining the other forty-nine is a high price to pay, and sagging support for opera worldwide is a pretty predictable result, but those in the know think the solution is an increased dose of the current medicine.
A connecting thread among the three is that they loom largest in the minds of people who don’t particularly like opera, but think visual imagery, or alignment with political trends, or critique from within by a director might give it the help it needs.
Mr Meli should be more concerned that he is performing the role without the requisite voice. Never mind the make up.