The Maribor Slovene National Theatre
Giuseppe Verdi
Otello
Music: Giuseppe Verdi
Libretto: Arrigo Boito
Conductor: Roberto Gianola
Director: Guy Montavon
Set, Costume, and Lighting Designer: Wolfgang von Zoubek
Chorusmaster: Zsuzsa Budavari Novak
Choreographer: Cleopatra Purice
Assistant Director: Tim Ribič
Assistant Set Designer: Matic Kašnik
Assistant Costume Designers: Simona Toš, Suzana Rengeo
Cast
Otello, Moorish general: Carlo Ventre
Desdemona, his wife: Sabina Cvilak
Iago, Otello’s ensign: Luka Brajnik
Emilia, Iago’s wife and Desdemona’s maid: Irena Petkova
Cassio, Otello’s captain: Bože Jurić Pešić
Roderigo, Venetian nobleman: Žiga Lakner
Lodovico, ambassador of the Venetian Republic: Luka Ortar
Montano, former governor of Cyprus: Sebastijan Čelofiga
Messenger: Tomaž Planinc
Venetian soldiers and sailors, citizens of Cyprus, and children
Opera Chorus of the Maribor Slovene National Theatre
Symphony Orchestra of the Maribor Slovene National Theatre
Concertmaster: Saša Olenjuk
Repetiteurs: Sofia Ticchi, Anna Fernandez Torres, Robert Mraček
Prompter: Sabina Alatič
Stage Managers: Iztok Smeh, Matjaž Marin, Filip Tašner
Upon finishing the opera Aida in 1871, Verdi, much like Rossini after his Wilhelm Tell, decided to officially retire from composing. However, the vast artistic and commercial success of his earlier works, along with the persistent persuasion from publisher Giulio Ricordi, led him to take up his pen again. Ricordi played a key role in shaping the new opera, proposing a collaboration with the talented librettist Arrigo Boito. The choice of Shakespeare's tragedy Othello was a rational decision. Otello, an opera of remarkable musical sophistication, was crafted thanks to Boito's dramaturgical focus on the layered relationships between Othello, Desdemona, and Iago. After almost thirty years, this celebrated late opera by Verdi, esteemed as one of his greatest works, is once more on the stage of the Maribor Opera, now under the innovative direction of Guy Montavon.
