O T ELL O
OPERA @ A GLANCE
L A N G U AG E
F I R ST P E R F O R M E D
December 4
Italian with English supertitles
1816
COMPOSER
Gioachino Antonio Rossini
Born in 1792 in Pesaro, Italy, his father was a horn and trumpet player and his mother was a singer. He was commissioned to write his first opera at age 18.
THEMES
L I B R E T TO
Francesco Berio di Salsa
based on Shakespeare’s play, Othello, aka The Moor of Venice
LENGTH
3 ACTS
love jealousy domestic violence patriarchy prejudice deception
SY N O PS I S
In a complicated love triangle, Desdemona disobeys her father, Emilio, and marries his enemy Otello rather than the nobleman Rodrigo. Their love is undone by the vengeful Iago, who is also in love with Desdemona and plots to convince Otello that his wife has been unfaithful.
C H A R AC T E R S
SET TING
Venice, 1570
Otello (tenor), Moorish general of the Venetian troops Desdemona (soprano); Elmiro’s daughter Rodrigo (tenor), the Doge’s son Iago (tenor), a Venetian officer Emilia (soprano) Desdemona’s lady in waiting Elmiro (bass), Desdemona’s father, a senator
SCAN FOR MORE!
OTELLO
LI S T EN I N G
WRIT TEN BY
G U I D E
Lily Kass, Scholar in Residence
“Ah! Sì per voi già sento”
“Ah! Yes, I already feel for all of you” This scene, early on in the opera, introduces us to the major themes in the piece: community and belonging, jealousy, and power. Different characters are thinking about totally different things at the same time, and we can hear their different emotions come together through music. Otello overflows with gratitude (and musical notes!) as he reflects on his acceptance in Venetian society even though he comes from Africa, and he hopes that he will also be accepted as Desdemona’s husband. At the same time, the jealous Rodrigo and Iago think about how best to ruin Otello’s life, and the chorus tells everyone that they should go properly celebrate Otello’s military victory. DISC 1, TRACK 5
AC T
I
DISC 1, TRACK 7
“No, non temer, serena”
“No, don’t be afraid, be calm”
This duet between Iago and Rodrigo is so beautiful that if we didn’t pay close attention, we would never guess that Iago and Rodrigo are scheming to ruin Otello! They sing beautiful melodies as they discuss their strong friendship, their combined purpose, and how happy they will be when their plans are carried out. The fact that they sing in the same range, echo one another, and sing together in consonant harmonies, brings home the message that their fates are intertwined.
DISC 1, TRACK 9
“Vorrei che il tuo pensiero”
“I would like your thoughts”
This is another friendship duet, this time between Emilia and Desdemona. They are both in love (Emilia with Iago and Desdemona with Otello), and they sing about how love can cause happiness but also pain. When they describe the happiness of love they sing in consonant harmonies (harmonies that sound beautiful to our ears), and when they talk about the pain of love, they sing in dissonant harmonies (harmonies that sound jarring to our ears).
Check out these significant musical moments in Otello! Each song helps tell the story and gives us insight into how the characters are feeling. Scan the QR code to listen to each piece as you read.
“Danzone del gondiero: Nessun maggior dolore”
“The Gondolier’s Song: No greater pain”
Gondoliers are men who row special boats called gondolas through the canals of Venice (which function like streets!). They often sing as they row, and this aria is a gondolier’s song, which Desdemona hears through her window as the gondolier passes by on the canal. The gondolier’s song is in a much simpler style than the other arias we hear throughout Otello because it is supposed to be realistic – a song like you might really hear an untrained singer, a gondolier, singing from afar. The words of his song are “there is no greater pain than to remember happier days in times of misery,” a quotation from Canto V of Dante’s Inferno, which reminds Desdemona of her own sorry situation.
“Non m’inganno: al mio rivale”
“I’m not deluding myself: to my rival”
In this important scene, Iago convinces Otello that Desdemona has been unfaithful (spoiler alert: she hasn’t!). We hear Otello getting more and more angry and depressed by Desdemona’s betrayal while Iago sneaks around in the background secretly rejoicing that his plan is working. DISC 2, TRACK 3
AC T
I I
DISC 2, TRACK 12
DISC 2, TRACK 9 Act II Finale
“Che smania! Oimè!”
“What torment! Woe is me!”
The finale of Act II is full of tension! Desdemona realizes that Otello has forsaken her although she is innocent, and she becomes frantic for his safety and her own. The orchestra gets louder and faster, matching Desdemona’s panic as the scene goes on. The phrases that Desdemona sings in this scene often go from very low pitches to very high pitches and vice versa, showing that she feels unstable and doesn’t know what to think.
AC T
I I I
DISC 2, TRACK 13
“Canzone del Salice: Assisa a piè d’un salice”
“The Willow Song: Seated at the foot of a willow”
In this aria, Desdemona picks up a harp and tries to play and sing to Emilia a song that she remembers an old friend, an African woman named Isaura, singing long ago. As Desdemona sings, she gets more and more agitated thinking about her own situation. You can hear her adding more and more notes to the simple melody as her mind wanders, and she also interrupts herself several times as she hears noises that frighten her.
S P O T LI G H T S What inspired you to become an opera singer? I got inspired to become an opera singer when I was cast as Gherardino in Gianni Schicchi by the South African College of Music (UCT Opera school) in the year 2000 after having won a treble solo school competition for all schools in the Western Cape Province. At the time I had no idea about opera, I didn’t even know that such a beautiful music genre existed. I was just singing for fun in school as I grew up singing a lot at home. From the first rehearsal at the opera school, everything just felt right. I didn’t understand a word they were singing about, but for some reason I could understand what was going on, and somehow able to follow the story line which cracked me up at every phrase and scene. From there on the fascination and excitement just overwhelmed me and I just wanted to see myself in rehearsals everyday. I just knew that this is what I wanted to do, and now I get to make my debut with one of the biggest opera companies in the world, a dream come true. What has been the most rewarding and most challenging aspects of your career so far? For a very long time I lacked confidence and even thought of giving up as I was tired of having the same vocal problems for a very long time, regardless of the help I got from all those who tried to help fix them. I knew I could comprehend very well everything they taught me and every solution they would bring my way, but for some reason
MILLIE HIIBEL Costume Director What inspired you to become a costume designer? I grew up without television in the home, and consequently much of my free time was spent reading and drawing; additionally, my grandfather was an amateur painter, so art and creativity were encouraged by the adult in my life. I learned to sew as a child and attempted, with limited success, to make clothes without any real training. I remember imagining a glamourous life as a fashion designer, but I didn't have access to many opportunities outside of my small rural community.
my vocal problems still persisted. It was only around early 2018 when I decided that, maybe I should try fixing this myself first, understand what is happening myself and find solutions for it myself. I think this really helped me understand my singing, what is it that works for me and what doesn’t. So far, this has been the most exciting and rewarding period in my career, gaining my confidence and loving what I love doing—singing! Getting that one big break has been the most challenging for me. You hit a point where you think you have 90 percent figured it out when it comes to your singing, artistry, vocal technique and everything else that comes with being a good performer and then automatically think that offers will just be flocking your way—false! You don’t just wake up and think you’re good and then offers will come knocking on your door. Lots of work still needs to be done—one of them being to find good representation that will work best for you. Rossini’s Otello is known to be very difficult and virtuosic to sing. How do you prepare for a role like this? Everything lies in honesty when preparing for any part, especially for a big part as this one. Being honest with myself about how challenging and difficult the part is, is all the motivation I need to work extra hard and make sure that I come out victorious and execute the part to the best of my abilities. This then allows me to be able to see where I fall short with regards to
I ended up studying English literature in college and worked at a coffee shop; it was the 1990's in Seattle so this was the height of one's ambition. I also worked at the writing center on campus, and a friend who worked with me would frequently invite me to student productions on campus. She was dating an actor who was in several of the productions we saw. While I have had always enjoyed seeing live performance, I was never interested in being on-stage. But seeing student productions, I was drawn to the costumes and started to inquire about costume design courses on campus. Once I was able to enroll in a costume design class, all things (drawing, painting, sewing, reading and performance) that I had enjoyed in my childhood and early adulthood suddenly converged in the perfect medium. And the rest is history. What are the unique characteristics of the Otello cast costumes? Even though I did not create these costumes, this particular Otello is set in the late Edwardian era, which is often referred to as pre-WWI—think Titanic or early Downton Abbey. This time period is unique for an opera, so it's refreshing to see clothes of this era which have a neoclassical yet modern feel to them.
K H A N Y I S O GW E N X A N E Appearing as “Otello” everything concerning the part, comprehension of the text, understanding the relationship between the characters and also having an in depth understanding of your character—stamina, vocal technique, and the other technical aspects required for you to perform the part at the highest level possible. Honesty allows me to be open to every solution possible and any kind of help that I can get until I’m at a point where everyone is happy about how the part should be presented, with the help of everyone involved. What is on your “recently played” playlist? I’m unfortunately a typical opera singer. On my recently played you’ll find Bryan Hymel’s HÉROÏQUE French Opera Arias with Emmanuel Vuillaume and the Prague Philharmonia. I am looking into learning new high French repertoire and for now this is my jam!
What has been your favorite costume to create? Most recently, the costume for Kristen Choi in TakTakShoo.
What is on your “recently played” playlist? Truthfully, it's all things Brandi Carlisle! I'll be seeing her at Madison Square Garden in October. Check her out at the Newport Folk Festival with the one and only Joni Mitchell on YouTube!