Taut, concentrated and overwhelmingly powerful, Otello lays bare the extremes of human emotion. 

Otello, commander of Venetian forces in Cyprus, is blissfully married to the beautiful Desdemona. Driven by a motiveless evil, Otello’s ensign Iago poisons him against his blameless wife. Otello’s desperate, harrowing disintegration into catastrophe is the essence of timeless tragedy. It’s no surprise that Verdi, a life-long worshipper of Shakespeare, was lured out of retirement to write Otello. 

It requires a mighty tenor for the title role, and in New Zealand’s Simon O’Neill we have a singer whose Otello was hailed as “thrilling” and “a triumph” by the London critics. Verdi’s quicksilver score also requires a superb dramatic conductor, which is why Giordano Bellincampi’s New Zealand operatic début is not to be missed. 

Cast

• Otello: Simon O’Neill
• Desdemona, Otello's wife: Maria Luigia Borsi
• Iago, Otello's Ensign: Scott Hendricks
• Cassio, Otello's Captain: James Egglestone
• Emiliea, wife of Iago and maid of Desdemona: Sarah Castle

The Freemasons NZ Opera Chorus