After retiring at age 58, Verdi would write no new operas for the next 15 years. It took a pivotal supper in Milan and the persistence of music publisher Giulio Ricordi to entice the Maestro to set about composing a new work, which he would only refer to as the “chocolate project”.
The Moor Otello is a soldier, a general and a loving husband who, despite all of his accomplishments, is not accepted by the people of Venice: he remains the eternal "black" foreigner. The vulnerability of the stranger seeking to fit into society is something that is easy for false friends to exploit – as is his jealousy.
Otello is a masterpiece, an exceptional work of creative genius in which the composer sets Shakespeare's tragedy to the music of his own unmistakably Verdian voice. The Opera's new production is directed by the internationally renowned Italian artist, Stefano Poda.
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