Show description
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
