The Israeli Opera in collaboration with the Vienna Staatsoper will present Giuseppe Verdi’s Otello, directed by Adrian Noble, and conducted by Dan Ettinger. Otello will be performed from January 31 – February 13, 2025.
Otello is based on William Shakespeare’s play Othello, with a libretto by Arrigo Boito. Renowned as a director of Shakespeare’s plays, Adrian Noble was the Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company from 1990 to 2003. Under his direction, the opera moves forward from the 15th to the early 20th century, offering opportunity for reflection on contemporary issues of colonialism, racism, and prejudice. Otello is a tale of passionate, overwhelming emotions – love, envy, jealousy, and a deep insecurity. As the opera begins, a crowd of Venetian officers and locals eagerly await the arrival of Otello, the new governor from Venice. But there two harbor bitter feelings towards Otello – Iago because he has been passed over for promotion in favor of Cassio, and Roderigo, because he is in love with Otello’s wife Desdemona. Iago begins to set the stage to revenge himself on Cassio and Otello, getting Cassio drunk and involved in a brawl, leading to his dismissal. Iago is now Otello’s second in command and confidant, and he ingratiates himself with Otello while sowing seeds of suspicion. Otello is a Moor, and as such, has experienced prejudice, and his feelings of being an outsider make him even more susceptible to Iago’s malicious plot, believing that Desdemona has betrayed him with Cassio. It cannot end well, not even for Iago. Verdi’s Otello premiered in 1887, and it was to be Verdi’s penultimate opera, followed by another opera inspired by Shakespeare – Falstaff, which premiered in 1893.
This production of Otello will be graced by leading soloists including: Kristian Benedikt and Roy Cornelius Smith alternating as Otello, Ionut Pascu and Mikolaj Zalasinski alternating as Iago, Iulia Maria Dan and Alla Vasilevitsky alternating as Desdemona, Alexei Dolgov and Vasyl Solodkyy alternating as Cassio, Vasyl Solodkyy and Adi Ezra alternating as Roderigo, Rona Shira and Yarden Kiperman alternating as Emilia, Vladimir Sazdovski and Yoav Ayalon alternating as Lodovico, Pnini Leon Grubner and Yair Polishook alternating as Montano, and Yoav Ayalon and Kirill Odintsov alternating as Herald.
Performances will take place: Friday, January 31st at 13:00; Sunday, February 2nd at 19:30 (premiere); Monday, February 3rd at 18:00; Tuesday, February 4th at 20:00; Wednesday, February 5th at 20:00; Friday, February 7th at 13:00; Saturday, February 8th at 20:00; Sunday, February 9th at 18:00; Monday, February 10th at 20:00; Thursday, February 13th at 20:00.
Tickets and additional information may be found on the Israeli Opera website.
