Admin

Organization

Singer

Bass

Michael Crozier

Montano

Tenor

Nadav Hart

Cassio

Baritone

Philip Skinner

Iago

David Gustafson

Otello

Adam Flowers

Roderigo

Soprano

Cynthia Clayton

Desdemona

Diana Sintich

Mezzo-soprano

Michelle Rice

Emilia

Jay Iness

A Herald

Matthew Lovell

Lodovico

Conductor

José Luis Moscovich

Stage director

Daniel Helfgot

Costume designer

Callie Floor

Set designer

Peter Crompton

West Bay Opera

Otello -  (Othello)

Palo Alto

United States

Lucie Stern Theatre

Otello Verdi

Othello

Approved

Cynthia Clayton as Desdemona. May 2013
Michelle Rice as Emilia.
West Bay Opera - José Luis Moscovich, conductor.
Daniel Helfgot - stage director

World Premiere: Teatro alla Scala, Milan - Feb 5, 1887

WBO Premiere:  May 14, 1969

Pictured: interior of the Teatro alla Scala



After the success of Aida, Verdi went into retirement. It took Giulio Ricordi several years to convince him to take on Otello. This was Verdi's first collaboration with composer Arrigo Boito, who wrote the libretto based on Shakespeare. (Their second and final collaboration was Falstaff.)  It took more than five years for the opera to be ready for its premiere in 1887. The score is the work of a master composer fully in control of the story's dramatic arc, able to convey nuance and depth of characterization, and capable of further illuminating Shakespeare's own work.

English

Performance credits (Cast & Crew )

Cast

Crew