Post by erik on Jan 16, 2021 18:46:40 GMT -5
Giuseppe Verdi and William Shakespeare, though centuries apart, did combine a number of times for great late 19th century opera. The work in this week's Classical Works Spotlight is just such an example.
Verdi: OTELLO
Arguably the greatest composer of grand opera in Italy, Giuseppe Verdi had basically “retired” following the massive success of his 1871 opus “Aida”, even though, during that supposed retirement, he did compose the unbelievably popular Manzoni Requiem in 1874. Verdi’s publisher Giulio Ricordi considered his client’s retirement to be not only a waste of his talent but also, of course, a waste of possible (even probable) profits as well. But it would take ten years to convince Verdi to take up the cudgel of the grand opera again; and with Arrigo Boito providing a libretto, the composer launched into a big stage version of William Shakespeare’s famous play “Othello”. Even then, however, it would be another three years still before “Otello” (as it was called in Italian) would reach the stage; and Verdi continued to more or less hem and haw about it all. Nevertheless, “Otello”, once it premiered at the Teatro alla Scala, the most famous Italian opera house, on February 5, 1887, was a massive success, as Verdi’s previous operas, including “Falstaff”, had been. The major hang-up with staging the opera for many is that the role of Otello, who happens to be black, had, until recent decades, been played by White-skinned opera stars who must wear blackface make-up, a tactic considered by the 1950’s to be incredibly racist. After years of doing this, in 2015 the Metropolitan Opera would only ever stage the opera with an African-American singer in the title role. The relatively modest running time of two hours and twenty minutes of this four-act masterpiece, however, has continued to make it popular in the opera houses of the world well into the 21st century.
Otello: ALEXSANDRS ANTNONENKO
Desdemona: KRASSIMIRA STOYANOVA
Iago: CARLO GUELFI
Emilia: BARBARA DI CASTRI
Cassio: JUAN FRANCISCO GATELL
Roderigo: MICHAEL SPYRES
Motano: PAOLA BATTAGLIA
Lodovico: ERIC OWENS
A Herald: DAVID GOVERTSEN
Chicago Symphony Chorus (Duain Wolfe, chorus director)
Chicago Children’s Choir (Josephine Lee, artistic director)
Chicago Symphony Orchestra/RICCARDO MUTI (CSO Resound)
Verdi: OTELLO
Arguably the greatest composer of grand opera in Italy, Giuseppe Verdi had basically “retired” following the massive success of his 1871 opus “Aida”, even though, during that supposed retirement, he did compose the unbelievably popular Manzoni Requiem in 1874. Verdi’s publisher Giulio Ricordi considered his client’s retirement to be not only a waste of his talent but also, of course, a waste of possible (even probable) profits as well. But it would take ten years to convince Verdi to take up the cudgel of the grand opera again; and with Arrigo Boito providing a libretto, the composer launched into a big stage version of William Shakespeare’s famous play “Othello”. Even then, however, it would be another three years still before “Otello” (as it was called in Italian) would reach the stage; and Verdi continued to more or less hem and haw about it all. Nevertheless, “Otello”, once it premiered at the Teatro alla Scala, the most famous Italian opera house, on February 5, 1887, was a massive success, as Verdi’s previous operas, including “Falstaff”, had been. The major hang-up with staging the opera for many is that the role of Otello, who happens to be black, had, until recent decades, been played by White-skinned opera stars who must wear blackface make-up, a tactic considered by the 1950’s to be incredibly racist. After years of doing this, in 2015 the Metropolitan Opera would only ever stage the opera with an African-American singer in the title role. The relatively modest running time of two hours and twenty minutes of this four-act masterpiece, however, has continued to make it popular in the opera houses of the world well into the 21st century.
Otello: ALEXSANDRS ANTNONENKO
Desdemona: KRASSIMIRA STOYANOVA
Iago: CARLO GUELFI
Emilia: BARBARA DI CASTRI
Cassio: JUAN FRANCISCO GATELL
Roderigo: MICHAEL SPYRES
Motano: PAOLA BATTAGLIA
Lodovico: ERIC OWENS
A Herald: DAVID GOVERTSEN
Chicago Symphony Chorus (Duain Wolfe, chorus director)
Chicago Children’s Choir (Josephine Lee, artistic director)
Chicago Symphony Orchestra/RICCARDO MUTI (CSO Resound)