Otello - Metropolitan Opera

Giuseppe Verdi
Otello
CONDUCTOR
Semyon Bychkov
PRODUCTION
Elijah Moshinsky
SET DESIGNER
Michael Yeargan
COSTUME DESIGNER
Peter J. Hall
LIGHTING DESIGNER
Duane Schuler
CHOREOGRAPHER
Eleanor Fazan
STAGE DIRECTOR
David Kneuss
GENERAL MANAGER
Peter Gelb
MUSIC DIRECTOR
James Levine
PRINCIPAL CONDUCTOR
Fabio Luisi
Opera in four acts
Libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on the play by
William Shakespeare
Saturday, October 27, 2012, 1:00–4:05 pm
The production of Otello was made possible by a
generous gift from Mrs. Donald D. Harrington
The revival of this production is made possible by
a gift from Rolex

2012–13 Season
The 319th Metropolitan Opera performance of
Giuseppe Verdi’s
Otello
Conductor
Semyon Bychkov
in order of vocal appearance
Montano
Stephen Gaertner
Cassio
Michael Fabiano
Iago
Falk Struckmann
Roderigo
Eduardo Valdes
Otello
Johan Botha
Desdemona
Renée Fleming
Emilia
Renée Tatum *
A herald
Luthando Qave *
Lodovico
James Morris
Saturday, October 27, 2012, 1:00–4:05 pm

This afternoon’s performance is being transmitted live
in high definition to movie theaters worldwide.
The Met: Live in HD series is made possible by a generous grant from
its founding sponsor, The Neubauer Family Foundation.
Bloomberg is the global corporate sponsor of The Met: Live in HD.
Johan Botha and
Renée Fleming
as Otello and
Desdemona in
Verdi’s Otello
* Member of the
Lindemann Young Artist
Development Program
Yamaha is the official piano
of the Metropolitan Opera.
Latecomers will not be
admitted during the
performance.
Visit metopera.org
Chorus Master Donald Palumbo
Fight Director B.H. Barry
Musical Preparation Joan Dornemann, Dennis Giauque,
Paul Nadler, and Howard Watkins
Assistant Stage Directors Eric Einhorn and J. Knighten Smit
Stage Band Conductor Gregory Buchalter
Prompter Joan Dornemann
Italian Coach Hemdi Kfir
Met Titles Sonya Friedman
Children’s Chorus Director Anthony Piccolo
Scenery, properties, and electrical props constructed and painted
in Metropolitan Opera Shops
Costumes executed by Metropolitan Opera Costume Department
Wigs by Metropolitan Opera Wig Department
This performance is made possible in part by public funds
from the New York State Council on the Arts.
This production uses fire, lightning, and strobe effects.
Before the performance begins, please switch
off cell phones and other electronic devices.
Met Titles
To activate, press the red button to the right of the screen in front of your
seat and follow the instructions provided. To turn off the display, press
the red button once again. If you have questions please ask an usher at
intermission.
Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera

Synopsis
Cyprus, late 15th century
Act I
scene 1 The storm-battered ramparts
scene 2 Outside Otello’s castle
Act II
Otello’s headquarters
Intermission (aT APPROXIMATELY 2:15 PM)
Act III
scene 1 The castle garden
scene 2 The great reception hall of the castle
Act IV
Desdemona’s bedroom
Act I
Cypriots watch anxiously from the shore as a fierce storm batters the Venetian
fleet sent to defend their island from the invading Turks. The Moor Otello, a
Venetian general and governor of Cyprus, lands his flagship safely in the port
and announces the destruction of the Turkish fleet. Iago, Otello’s ensign, confers
with the wealthy Roderigo, who is in love with Desdemona, a Venetian beauty
recently married to Otello. Promising to help him, Iago assures Roderigo that
Desdemona will soon tire of her husband. He reveals his hatred for Otello, who
passed him over for advancement, promoting Cassio instead. While the citizens
celebrate the governor’s victory and his safe return home, Iago proposes a toast.
Cassio declines to drink, but Iago argues he cannot refuse to salute Otello’s
new wife. Cassio consents and grows tipsy as Iago provokes Roderigo to get
into a fight with Cassio. Montano, the former governor, tries to separate the
two, but Cassio attacks him as well. Otello appears from the castle to restore
order, furious about his soldiers’ behavior. When he sees Desdemona disturbed
by the commotion, he takes away Cassio’s recent promotion and commands
everyone to leave. Alone, the lovers recall their courtship and assure each other
of their love.
Act II
Iago advises Cassio to present his case to Desdemona. He argues that her
influence on the general will certainly get Cassio reinstated. As soon as Cassio
39

Synopsis CONTINUED
is out of sight, Iago declares his belief that a cruel God created man wicked
and that life has no meaning. He watches as Cassio approaches Desdemona
in the garden. When Otello enters, the lieutenant makes casual remarks about
Desdemona’s fidelity. Enchanted by his wife’s beauty, Otello greets her lovingly,
but when she brings up the question of Cassio’s demotion, he is angered and
complains of a headache. She offers a handkerchief to cool his forehead, but
he throws it to the ground. Her attendant Emilia, who is Iago’s wife, picks it up.
As Desdemona tries to calm Otello, Iago seizes the handkerchief from Emilia.
Otello asks to be alone and everybody leaves, except for Iago, who remains
to observe Otello’s growing suspicion. To fan the flames, he invents a story of
how Cassio spoke of Desdemona in his sleep; he mentions that he saw her
handkerchief in Cassio’s hand. Exploding with rage and jealousy, Otello swears
vengeance, and Iago joins in the oath.
Act III
A herald informs Otello of the imminent arrival of Venetian ambassadors. Iago
tells the general that soon he will have further proof of his wife and Cassio’s
betrayal. Desdemona enters, and Otello speaks calmly until she revives the
subject of Cassio. When Otello demands the handkerchief he gave her, she
again pleads for Cassio. Unable to control his fury any longer, Otello accuses
her of infidelity and dismisses her. Left alone, he suffers a fit of desperation and
self-pity, then hides as Iago returns with Cassio. Iago flashes the handkerchief he
stole and leads the conversation with Cassio in such a way that Otello overhears
only fragments and incorrectly assumes they are talking about Desdemona. As
trumpets announce the dignitaries from Venice, Otello, whose rage continues
to grow, vows to kill his wife that very night. He then greets the ambassador
Lodovico, who recalls him to Venice and appoints Cassio to govern Cyprus.
Losing control at this news, Otello pushes his wife to the floor, hurling insults.
He orders everyone out and collapses in a seizure, while Iago gloats over him.
Act IV
Emilia helps Desdemona prepare for bed. Frightened, Desdemona sings of
a maiden forsaken by her lover, then says an emotional goodnight to Emilia
and recites her prayers. As soon as she has fallen asleep, Otello enters and
wakes Desdemona with a kiss. When Otello starts talking about killing her, she is
horrified and protests her innocence, but Otello strangles her. Emilia knocks with
news that Cassio has killed Roderigo. Shocked to find the dying Desdemona,
she summons help. Iago’s plot is finally revealed and Otello realizes what he has
done. After reflecting on his past glory he pulls out a dagger and stabs himself,
dying with a final kiss for his wife.
40 Visit metopera.org

e Metropolitan Opera premiere of
omas Adès’s masterpiece “should
be the most significant artistic
statement of the Met season.”
— THE NEW YORK TIMES
Big
Magic

42
In Focus
Giuseppe Verdi
Otello
Premiere: Teatro alla Scala, Milan, 1887
Often cited as Italian opera’s greatest tragedy, Otello is a miraculous union of
music and drama. It is a musical masterpiece as profound philosophically as
it is thrilling theatrically. Shakespeare’s tale of an outsider, a great hero who
can’t control his jealousy, was carefully molded by the librettist Arrigo Boito
into a taut and powerful libretto. Verdi’s supreme achievement in this work
may be the title role: a pinnacle of the tenor’s repertory. All three lead roles are
demanding (making Otello a challenge to produce), but the role of Otello, in
particular, requires an astounding natural instrument capable of both powerful
and delicate sounds, superb musical intelligence, and impressive acting abilities.
Many of the greatest tenors have avoided it entirely; very few have mastered it.
The Creators
In an unparalleled career in the theater spanning six decades, Giuseppe Verdi
(1813–1901) composed 28 operas, of which Otello was the penultimate. His
role in Italy’s cultural and political development has made him an icon in his
native country. The remarkable Arrigo Boito (1842–1918) was also a composer
(his opera Mefistofele, based on Goethe’s Faust, premiered in 1868), as well
as a journalist and critic. The plays of William Shakespeare (1564–1616) have
inspired a huge number of operatic interpretations. Verdi and Boito would turn
to Shakespeare again after Otello for their final masterpiece, Falstaff.
The Setting
The opera is set on the island of Cyprus in the late 15th century. (Boito jettisoned
Shakespeare’s Act I, set in Venice, for a tighter and more fluid drama.) The island
itself represents an outpost of a European power (Venice) under constant attack
from an encroaching, hostile adversary (the Turkish Empire). In a sense, the
island of Cyprus could be said to echo Otello’s outsider status: he is a foreigner
(a “Moor,” an uncertain term applied indiscriminately at that time to North
African Arabs, black Africans, and others) surrounded by suspicious Europeans.
The Music
The score of Otello is remarkable for its overall intensity and dramatic insight
rather than the memorable solo numbers that made Verdi’s earlier works so
popular. There are arias in this opera, most notably Desdemona’s “Willow

Song” and haunting “Ave Maria” in the last act and the baritone’s “Credo” at
the beginning of Act II. But equally important are the shorter vocal solos that
cover considerable dramatic territory: the tenor’s opening “Esultate!” in Act I is
just a few measures long but reveals many facets of his character. Two notable
duets, the tenor–soprano love duet that ends Act I and the tenor–baritone
oath duet that concludes Act II, are remarkable examples of their respective
forms. Throughout the score, the orchestra plays a diverse role unprecedented
in Italian opera. In the opening storm scene, the power of nature is depicted
with full forces, including an organ, playing at the maximum possible volume. In
the Act I love duet, subtle psychological detail is revealed when the oboe and
clarinet are seamlessly replaced by the darker English horn and bass clarinet as
Otello’s mind turns to painful memories. The very end of the opera belongs to
the orchestra as well, with every instrument playing as softly as possible, pulsing
like the last breaths of a dying being.
Otello at the Met
The great tenor Jean de Reszke gave the Met’s first two performances of
the title role during the 1891 season—the first of which was on tour with the
company in Chicago. The opera didn’t make a great impact on Met audiences,
however, until a new production in 1894 featuring tenor Francesco Tamagno
and baritone Victor Maurel (Verdi’s choices for Otello and Iago at the world
premiere in Milan) established it in the repertory. Conductor Arturo Toscanini,
who had played in the orchestra in the world premiere, led 29 performances at
the Met between 1909 and 1913, all of which featured Leo Slezak in the title role.
Subsequent productions have featured Ettore Panizza conducting Elisabeth
Rethberg, Giovanni Martinelli, and Lawrence Tibbett (1937); Georg Solti in 1963
with Gabriella Tucci, James McCracken, and Robert Merrill; Karl Böhm in 1972
with Teresa Zylis-Gara, McCracken, and Sherrill Milnes; and the 1994 Met debut
of Valery Gergiev leading Carol Vaness, Plácido Domingo, and Sergei Leiferkus
in the current production by Elijah Moshinsky. Among the other great artists to
have made a mark in the title role are Ramón Vinay, Mario Del Monaco, and Jon
Vickers. Renata Tebaldi made her Met debut as Desdemona in 1955, and Kiri Te
Kanawa was first heard here when she made her company debut in the same
role on short notice in 1974. Music Director James Levine, who has led almost
2,500 performances for the Met, has conducted Otello here 82 times—more
than any other work.
Visit metopera.org
43

2012–13 Season
NEW PRODUCTIONS
L’Elisir d’Amore
The Tempest
Un Ballo in Maschera
Maria Stuarda
Rigoletto
Parsifal
Giulio Cesare
REPERTORY
Aida
The Barber of Seville
Carmen
La Clemenza di Tito
Le Comte Ory
Dialogues des Carmélites
Don Carlo
Don Giovanni
Faust
Francesca da Rimini
Le Nozze di Figaro
Otello
La Rondine
La Traviata
Il Trovatore
Les Troyens
Turandot
DER RING DES NIBELUNGEN
Das Rheingold
Die Walküre
Siegfried
Götterdämmerung
metopera.org 212.362.6000
Simon Keenlyside in The Tempest
photographed by Anne Deniau.

Program Note
Operas on Shakespearean subjects can be traced back to the 17th
century, but few were based directly on the works of the great
playwright. From Johann Mattheson’s Die unglückselige Cleopatra
(1704) to Rossini’s Otello (1816) and Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi (1830),
most “Shakespearean” operas were in fact based on other sources, sometimes
the same ones Shakespeare used, sometimes later versions that fitted out the
tragedies with happy endings.
This situation is in part due to the fact that not many operas were written
in Shakespeare’s native Britain until the late 19th century. Equally, however, it
reflects the ignorance of his work in countries with more highly developed
operatic cultures. In Italy as in Germany, he was not an age-old classic but a
poet who became widely known only in the 19th century, valued by Romantic
writers for disregarding the classical theatrical unities in favor of psychological
truth. And not until mid-century did Italian audiences begin to encounter him
in the theater—in fact, Verdi’s Macbeth of 1847, a serious attempt to represent
Shakespeare’s drama rather than merely its story, predated the play’s first Italian
performance. By that time, Verdi himself probably had not yet experienced
Shakespeare on stage, though later that year in London, he saw William Charles
Macready as Macbeth.
To critics of his Macbeth who said that Verdi did not understand Shakespeare,
the composer responded indignantly: “No, by God, no. I have had his works
in my hands since my earliest youth. I read and re-read him constantly.” As
early as 1843 he mentioned King Lear as a possible subject, and reconsidered
it more than once in later decades, eventually dropping it because adequate
singers were not in view. After the 1872 Milan premiere of Aida at La Scala,
Verdi made no further plans for theatrical work; that opera’s critical reception,
with suggestions that Verdi had become an imitator of Wagner, disgruntled
him, as did the increasing vogue in Italian theaters of foreign operas, especially
Wagner’s. The Requiem occupied him in 1873–74, and in subsequent years he
conducted it with some frequency. It was during the preparations for a Milan
performance in June of 1879 that a plot to lure Verdi back to the theater was put
into motion, with a libretto based on Shakespeare’s Othello as bait.
The conspirators, motivated by considerations of art, commerce, and
friendship, were led by Giulio Ricordi, the shrewd, cultured head of the music
publishing firm with which Verdi had been allied for most of his career. To Ricordi,
the composer’s idleness at the height of his creative powers seemed a prodigal
waste of artistic genius, national prestige, and potential income. Ricordi’s
principal instrument was the poet, librettist, and composer Arrigo Boito, who
many years earlier had been friendly with Verdi (providing the text for the 1862
Hymn of the Nations) and then had inadvertently offended the supersensitive
composer. Also involved were conductor–composer Franco Faccio and—
discreetly—Verdi’s wife Giuseppina.
45

Program Note CONTINUED
This genial conspiracy’s patient progress can be followed in the
correspondence published by Hans Busch (Verdi’s “Otello” in Letters and
Documents, Oxford, 1988): in no need of money, nearing 70 and worried about
his strength, Verdi is clearly attracted to the subject, but also testy and quick
to take offense, a situation requiring great resources of tact from Boito and
Ricordi, while Giuseppina cautiously coaches them via a back channel. The
revision of Simon Boccanegra in 1881 became a trial run for the collaboration,
but only in 1884 (after also revising Don Carlo) did Verdi begin to compose
the much-revised Otello libretto. Completed on November 1, 1886, the opera
was presented at Milan’s La Scala on February 5, 1887, conducted by Faccio.
The work achieved a triumph of legendary proportions. The hand-picked cast
included Francesco Tamagno as Otello, Romilda Pantaleoni as Desdemona,
and Victor Maurel as Iago.
Printed librettos for Verdi’s opera often have added a third column to
the traditional two, putting parallel passages from Shakespeare’s Othello
next to the English translation of Boito’s libretto—an interesting exercise but
surely an oversimplification of the transaction involved in the creation of the
operatic Otello. Its authors viewed the play through the lens of various Italian
translations, continental Romantic criticism, and the Italian theatrical tradition.
Though Boito knew some English, he relied principally on the French version by
François-Victor Hugo (son of the playwright and novelist)—a learned affair with
critical introduction, notes and commentary, and even a translation of the play’s
Italian source. All these influences affected the shaping of the opera, as did the
conventions of the Italian operatic stage, still persistent even in their loosened
form late in the 19th century.
Today, after 125 years, we cannot see and hear Otello the same way that
the spectators at La Scala in 1887 did. Its surprises, from the mighty onslaught
of sound in the opening storm scene to the subtle interweaving of aria and
conversation in Desdemona’s “Willow Song” and the double-bass recitative that
introduces Otello into her bedchamber, are not surprising any more, though
they have not ceased to be, respectively, awesome, poignant, and chilling. We
experience contemporary interpretations of the opera against a background of
earlier performances, live or recorded, that include the 1947 version conducted
by Arturo Toscanini (who played cello at the world premiere) and stretch all the
way back to Tamagno and Maurel of the original cast. —David Hamilton
Visit metopera.org 47

If the Met has
played a role in
your past…
Frieda Hempel as Adina in Donizetti’s
L’Elisir d’Amore, 1916
PHOTO: THE METROPOLITAN OPERA ARCHIVES
…play a role in
its future.
You can support the Met far into the future
by including it in your estate plan with
a gi in your will, retirement plan or life
insurance. It’s one of the greatest gis you
can give—the gi of beautiful music and a
legacy of support for extraordinary opera.
For information about making a planned
gi to the Met, please call 212.870.7388 or
email encoresociety@metopera.org.
Anna Netrebko as Adina, 2012–13 season
PHOTO: NICK HEAVICAN/METROPOLITAN OPERA

The Cast
Semyon Bychkov
conductor (st. petersburg, russia)
this season Otello at the Met, a concert with the MET Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, and
concerts with the San Francisco Symphony, London Symphony Orchestra, Vienna
Philharmonic Orchestra, Munich Philharmonic, Tokyo’s NHK Symphony Orchestra, and
Israel Philharmonic, among others.
met appearances Boris Godunov (debut, 2004).
career highlights He has been the music director of the Orchestre de Paris, principal
guest conductor of the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, principal guest conductor of Maggio
Musicale, Florence, chief conductor of WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, and chief conductor
of Dresden’s Semperoper. At London’s Covent Garden he has led Elektra (for his debut in
2003), Boris Godunov, The Queen of Spades, Lohengrin, Don Carlo, Tannhäuser, and La
Bohème. He has also conducted Elektra, Tristan und Isolde, Daphne, and Lohengrin at the
Vienna State Opera, Der Rosenkavalier at the Salzburg Festival, Un Ballo in Maschera and
Tristan und Isolde at the Paris Opera, Elektra in Madrid, Tosca and Elektra at La Scala, and
Jen ° ufa, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, and Schubert’s Fierrabras in Florence.
Renée Fleming
soprano (indiana, pennsylvania)
this season Desdemona in Otello at the Met; Blanche Dubois in Previn’s A Streetcar Named
Desire with Lyric Opera of Chicago and in concert at Carnegie Hall with the Orchestra of
St. Luke’s; the Countess in Capriccio with the Vienna State Opera; concert engagements
with the Philadelphia Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, and New York Philharmonic;
and recitals throughout South America, Europe, Asia, and the United States.
met appearances Title roles of Rodelinda, Armida, Thaïs, Rusalka, Manon, Arabella, and
Susannah, the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier, Violetta in La Traviata, Desdemona,
Tatiana in Eugene Onegin, the Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro (debut, 1991) and Capriccio,
Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, Rosina in the world premiere of Corigliano’s The Ghosts
of Versailles, Imogene in Il Pirata, Ellen Orford in Peter Grimes, Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte,
and Marguerite in Faust.
career highlights She has appeared in all the world’s leading opera houses, is the recipient
of three Grammy Awards, and was awarded the titles Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur
and Commandeur de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French government. She was
a 1988 winner of the Met’s National Council Auditions.
49

The Cast CONTINUED
Johan Botha
tenor (rustenburg, south africa)
this season Walther in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Otello, and Siegmund in Die
Walküre at the Vienna State Opera, Otello at the Met and with Munich’s Bavarian State
Opera, Walther with Lyric Opera of Chicago, Parsifal at the Salzburg Easter Festival, and
Siegmund at the Bayreuth Festival.
met appearances Radamès in Aida, Siegmund, Canio in Pagliacci (debut, 1997), Lohengrin,
Walther, Florestan in Fidelio, Calàf in Turandot, and the title role of Don Carlo.
career highlights He recently sang Lohengrin at Bucharest’s Enescu Festival, Bacchus
in Ariadne auf Naxos and Radamès in Hamburg, Pollione in Norma in Berlin, Apollo in
Strauss’s Daphne and the title role of Andrea Chénier at the Vienna State Opera, and the
Emperor in Die Frau ohne Schatten at La Scala. He has also been heard at Barcelona’s
Liceu, Geneva’s Grand Théâtre, Covent Garden, Los Angeles Opera, and Paris’s Bastille
Opera and Châtelet.
Falk Struckmann
bass-baritone (heilbronn, germany)
this season Iago in Otello at the Met, Scarpia in Tosca in Bilbao, and King Henry in
Lohengrin in Frankfurt.
met appearances Wozzeck (debut, 1997), Scarpia, Don Pizarro in Fidelio, Telramund in
Lohengrin, Abimélech in Samson et Dalila, and Amfortas in Parsifal.
career highlights He recently sang Barak in Die Frau ohne Schatten and Scarpia at La
Scala, Borromeo in Pfitzner’s Palestrina and Wotan in Wagner’s Ring cycle at the Hamburg
State Opera, and Scarpia, Amfortas, and Iago at the Vienna State Opera. He has also sung
Kurwenal in Tristan und Isolde and Wotan at the Bayreuth Festival; the Wanderer in Siegfried
at La Scala; Hans Sachs in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, the title role of Der Fliegende
Holländer, and Telramund at the Vienna State Opera; Borromeo with Munich’s Bavarian
State Opera and in Frankfurt; and Orest in Elektra, Kurwenal, the Dutchman, Telramund,
Hans Sachs, Wotan, Amfortas, and Don Pizarro at the Deutsche Staatsoper Berlin.
50 Visit metopera.org