Otello

by Giuseppe Verdi
Dramma lirico in four acts
Libretto by Arrigo Boito after the play of the same name Othello by William Shakespeare
in Italian
Attractive because repulsive - that’s one way to describe the contradictory fascination potential of William Shakespeare’s most enigmatic character, Othello. He probably could not have existed at the time of his creation: Black, a stranger, yet risen to the top of Venetian society through merit and spectacular eloquence, he marries the beautiful Desdemona.
But of course those around him are bothered by him, who they believe should be entitled to less. Othello’s closest confidant Iago instigates a jealous intrigue that leads to Othello killing first his bride and then himself. Arrigo Boito, the congenial librettist of Giuseppe Verdi’s late work, places Iago’s confession of cruelty at the center of the drama as an equal element to virtue. By drawing on Othello’s socially agreed otherness, Iago succeeds in bending the circumstances back in favor of a supposed order: one in which Othello is once again relegated to the bottom of the racialized hierarchy. As one of the most exciting opera works of the late 19th century, Verdi’s Otello also presents us with a problem: who should actually take responsibility for this white fantasy of blackness? Following her expansively sensual production of Juditha triumphans, director and set designer Silvia Costa focuses on the underlying constructions: who defines from where and in which language what is foreign and what is their own, who is worthy and who is rejected? Together with conductor Stefano Montanari, who returns to the Staatsoper Stuttgart after an exciting house debut with Iphigénie en Tauride and a brilliant Platée series, their examination of Shakespeare, Verdi and Boito promises to be an exciting journey through the different soul spaces of one of the most ambivalent figures in theater history.
Location
Opernhaus
World premiere
1887 in Milan

Premiere of this production
May 18, 2025
Recommended age
from class 10
There will be a german introduction 45 minutes before the performance at foyer I. floor.
May 2025
https://www.staatsoperstuttgart.de Staatsoper Stuttgart Oberer Schloßgarten 6, 70173 Stuttgart

Sun
18
18:00
Opernhaus
Premiere
8 / 22,50 / 38 / 52 / 69 / 89 / 108 / 128 / 152 €
Cast
Musikalische Leitung Stefano Montanari
Regie und Bühne Silvia Costa
Co-Bühnenbildner Michele Taborelli
Kostüme Gesine Völlm
Licht Marco Giusti
Chor Manuel Pujol
Dramaturgie Franz-Erdmann Meyer-Herder, Martin Mutschler, Julia Schmitt
Otello Matthew Polenzani
Cassio Joseph Tancredi
Desdemona Esther Dierkes
Emilia Itzeli Jáuregui
Herold N.N.
Jago Daniel Miroslaw
Lodovico Goran Jurić
Montano Aleksander Myrling
Rodrigo Alberto Robert
Staatsorchester Stuttgart, Staatsopernchor Stuttgart, Kinderchor der Staatsoper Stuttgart
https://www.staatsoperstuttgart.de Staatsoper Stuttgart Oberer Schloßgarten 6, 70173 Stuttgart

Wed
21
19:00
Opernhaus
8 / 20,50 / 33 / 49 / 66 / 82 / 99 / 119 / 139 €
https://www.staatsoperstuttgart.de Staatsoper Stuttgart Oberer Schloßgarten 6, 70173 Stuttgart

Sun
25
19:00
Opernhaus
8 / 20,50 / 33 / 49 / 66 / 82 / 99 / 119 / 139 €
https://www.staatsoperstuttgart.de Staatsoper Stuttgart Oberer Schloßgarten 6, 70173 Stuttgart

Wed
28
19:00
Opernhaus
8 / 20,50 / 33 / 49 / 66 / 82 / 99 / 119 / 139 €
Jun 2025
https://www.staatsoperstuttgart.de Staatsoper Stuttgart Oberer Schloßgarten 6, 70173 Stuttgart

Fri
27
19:00
Opernhaus
8 / 20,50 / 33 / 49 / 66 / 82 / 99 / 119 / 139 €
https://www.staatsoperstuttgart.de Staatsoper Stuttgart Oberer Schloßgarten 6, 70173 Stuttgart

Mon
30
19:00
Opernhaus
8 / 20,50 / 33 / 49 / 66 / 82 / 99 / 119 / 139 €
Jul 2025
https://www.staatsoperstuttgart.de Staatsoper Stuttgart Oberer Schloßgarten 6, 70173 Stuttgart

Sun
6
18:00
Opernhaus
8 / 20,50 / 33 / 49 / 66 / 82 / 99 / 119 / 139 €
https://www.staatsoperstuttgart.de Staatsoper Stuttgart Oberer Schloßgarten 6, 70173 Stuttgart

Wed
9
Evening
Opernhaus
8 / 20,50 / 33 / 49 / 66 / 82 / 99 / 119 / 139 €
https://www.staatsoperstuttgart.de Staatsoper Stuttgart Oberer Schloßgarten 6, 70173 Stuttgart

Wed
16
19:00
Opernhaus
8 / 20,50 / 33 / 49 / 66 / 82 / 99 / 119 / 139 €
https://www.staatsoperstuttgart.de Staatsoper Stuttgart Oberer Schloßgarten 6, 70173 Stuttgart

Fri
18
Evening
Opernhaus
8 / 20,50 / 33 / 49 / 66 / 82 / 99 / 119 / 139 €