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"Robert L. Larsen's custodianship of both stage and musical direction result[s] in…a most satisfying weekend of music-making in the beautiful Iowa countryside."

--Opera News

Otello Verdi

Dramma lirico in four acts

Libretto by Arrigo Boito after William Shakespeare’s play Othello, or The Moor of Venice
First performance: Milan; Teatro alla Scala, February 5, 1887
Sung in Italian with English supertitles above the stage

**Please note that the June 30, July 8 and July 13 performances are SOLD OUT. Call (515) 961-6221 to be placed on the waiting list.

Free opera previews are open to all ticket holders. They are held in Brenton Student Center on the Simpson College campus 45 minutes before curtain.

The geniuses of Shakespeare and Verdi are hurled together in a maelstrom of intense music and drama. From the wild storm at sea that begins the opera to the abject tragedy of the final scene (when Otello, having learned of the knavery that inspired his unfounded jealousy, kisses his beloved Desdemona for the last time and the haunting musical motive of that kiss whispers in the orchestra) this remarkable work is the crowning glory of nineteenth-century grand opera. Through glorious choruses, brilliant orchestration and subtle musical characterizations, Verdi combines the emotional power first seen in "Rigoletto" with a brave new world of opera making.

CAST:

Chorus: Soldiers and Sailors of the Republic, Venetian Ladies and Gentleman, Cypriot Men, Women and Children, Greek, Dalmatian and Albanian Soldiers

Cast and opera are subject to change without notice.

PRODUCTION:

SETTING: A maritime city on the island of Cyrpus, the end of the 15th Century