West Bay Opera is presenting a fully staged production of Verdi’s Shakespeare-inspired masterpiece Otello. In the farthest reaches of the late-Medieval Venetian Empire, a war hero of African descent has been installed as governor of Cyprus and has taken for a wife the beautiful Desdemona, daughter of a Venetian senator. Both his military and marital conquests are soon clouded by a plot hatched by his own ensign, Iago, unhappy with Otello’s decision to bypass him for a promotion to captain, which he instead bestows upon Cassio. Otello will eventually descend into a jealousy-induced madness, murdering the hapless Desdemona for her alleged infidelity and taking his own life after finding out the Truth from Emilia, Iago’s wife.
Intended as Verdi’s last opera, though he was later enticed to compose Falstaff, also based on Shakespeare, which became his actual final work, Otello is a score of breathtaking dramatic power. It represents Verdi at his most effective as a composer and orchestrator, achieving impeccable integration of vocal and instrumental lines and superb command of the long phrase, to deliver a range of human emotions with depth and elegance and keep audience members on the edge of their seats.
With WBO’s General Director, José Luis Moscovich, conducting and Richard Harrell stage-directing Otello’s accomplished cast which is headlined by tenor John Kun Park in the title role, soprano Julia Behbudov as Desdemona, and bass-baritone Robert Balonek as Iago. Tenor Tom Mulder sings Cassio, bass-baritone Isaiah Musik-Ayala sings Ludovico. Mezzo-soprano Laure de Marcellus sings Emilia. Rounding out the cast, tenor Carmello Tringali sings Roderigo and bass-baritone James Cowing sings Montano.
Sets and projected images are by Peter Crompton. Costumes by Callie Floor. Lighting design is by Danielle Ferguson; props design by Shirley Benson; projection systems design by Frederic Boulay and sound design by Giselle Lee.
Showtimes: Friday, May 23 at 7:00 p.m.; Sunday, May 25, at 2:00 p.m. Saturday, May 31 at 7:00 p.m. and Sunday, June 1, at 2:00 p.m. The Sunday, May 25 performance followed by a post-performance discussion with the cast and directors seated onstage.
Where: All performances at the Lucie Stern Theatre, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto, CA.
.Tickets: $46 to $125. Group, senior and student discounts available.
Box Office: 650.424.9999 (PLEASE NOTE: this phone number is our preferred ticket sales information number for calendar listings.) Tickets available online as well: www.WBOpera.org. Don’t let this get away.
More Info: www.WBOpera.org
Images: Production Image, Set renderings by Peter Crompton, costume renderings by Callie Floor, respectively.
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