Italy Verdi, Otello: Soloists, Refrain and Orchestra of the Teatro Petruzzelli / Giacomo Sagripanti (conductor). Teatro Petruzzelli, Bari, 29.6.2023. (RP)

Manufacturing:
Director – Francesco Micheli
Units – Edoardo Sanchi
Costumes – Silvia Aymonino
Lighting – Fabio Barettin
Refrain grasp – Fabrizio Cassi

Forged:
Otello – Marco Berti
Iago – Vladimir Stoyanov
Cassio – Zi-Zhao Guo
Roderigo – Antoni Lliteres
Lodovico – Viktor Shevchenko
Montano – Alberto Petricca
Desdemona – Vittoria Yeo
Emilia – Maria Luisa de Freitas
Herald – Gianfranco Cappelluti

The Apulian metropolis of Bari and opera are hardly synonymous within the minds of many operagoers, however the Teatro Petruzzelli, the fourth-largest opera home in Italy, has a proud and distinguished historical past. It was inbuilt 1903, and many of the nice singers and conductors of the 20th century carried out right here till the theatre was destroyed by hearth in 1991. It could stay darkish for the following eighteen years.

Teatro Petruzzelli reopened in 2009 with state-of-the-art amenities and a seating capability of 1,482. Judging from this efficiency of Verdi’s Otello, opera in Bari is world class, and much more pleasurable as a result of theatre’s wonderful acoustics and opulent pink, cream and gilt inside.

For this run of Otello, Teatro Petruzzelli revived a staging by Francesco Micheli, which was first seen at Venice’s Teatro la Fenice within the 2012/13 season. The manufacturing is a paradigm of effectivity and ease. It stays true to the drama, and neither overwhelms the singers nor exhausts the viewers with an overload of ideas to decipher.

Micheli updates the motion to the late-nineteenth century, however that’s solely obvious within the costumes: navy uniforms for the boys, the refrain in sou’westers and Emilia’s darkish costume. Desdemona’s apparel, nonetheless, is extra pure and flowing: a bodily solution to depict the sensuality that Verdi captures so completely within the music composed for her.

The whole stage is became a wealthy blue zodiac map with a rotating dice embellished in Islamic geometric patterns within the center. This house is Desdemona’s interior sanctum, the place she prays, sleeps and is finally killed by Otello, and the place Micheli provides an understated depiction of the cultural variations that course via the opera.

A Turkish tea samovar, topped with the Islamic Christian moon, is the one overt reference to Otello being a Moor. The references to Christianity are equally restrained. Desdemona prays to a big statue of the Virgin Mary, upon which she drapes a pink rosary. It’s later toppled as Desdemona’s destiny turns into clear. The blue of her marriage ceremony costume is similar coloration because the Madonna’s mantle.

Total, the director has a light-weight contact with stage components. Within the opening scene, a single, golden boat is being tossed within the waves because the Cypriots anxiously await Otello’s return. The boats will seem later en masse, held excessive by the boys of the refrain when the Cypriots hail Otello because the Lion of Venice. The constellation, Leo the Lion, is ever current, however loomed even bigger throughout this scene.

From Otello’s opening cry of exaltation, Marco Berti revealed a shining tenor that sliced via Verdi’s crush of orchestral and choral sound. The position, generally known as a ‘voice killer’, held no terrors for this tenor. Dramatically, Berti was at his finest expressing the warrior’s violence and insecurity. Verdi affords Otello few moments to show his tenderness and love for Desdemona, however Berti did so successfully within the duet ‘Già nella notte densa’, which concludes Act I.

Vittoria Yeo started her worldwide profession with a debut on the Salzburg Pageant through the summer season of 2015, the place she sang Elvira in Ernani below the baton of Riccardo Muti. She was then engaged to sing the title position within the pageant’s new manufacturing of Aida and has now sung Verdi heroines throughout Europe.

Yeo was an exceptionally beautiful Desdemona in each voice and look. Her Desdemona was light, pure and voluptuous, which put her at odds with the violent, male-dominated society during which she lives. With delicate, dramatic strokes, the soprano created a Desdemona that was a totally realized particular person, not only a one-dimensional portrayal of aggrieved innocence.

Downstage, dressed solely in modest undergarments, a state which depicted her vulnerability and helplessness, Yeo lent vocal luster and an intense emotion to Verdi’s chic music within the ‘Willow Tune’ and ‘Ave Maria’. She was as close to perfection as one might hope for in a Desdemona.

Vladimir Stoyanov’s Iago, whereas hardly a caricature, was extra one-dimensional. He expressed Iago’s envy, hatred and violence in a blistering ‘Credo’. Stoyanov’s voice lacked the heft and slice related to a real Verdi baritone, however it was sizable sufficient to do justice to the position, particularly when mixed along with his potent dramatic presence.

Zi-Zhao Guo’s Cassio was the brightest presence on stage. Lithe and agile bodily, Guo’s pure stage presence was on a par with the benefit and freedom of his singing. As Rodrigo, tenor Antoni Lliteres additionally displayed a effective tenor and acute performing expertise. Maria Luisa de Freitas was an particularly compassionate Emilia, whose mere presence added immeasurable depth to the tragedy each time she appeared on stage.

Giacomo Sagripanti, presently music director at Tbilisi State Opera, is a younger conductor who’s garnering worldwide consideration. In 2025, he’s slated to debut at New York’s Metropolitan Opera. This efficiency gave ample proof of his items as a conductor.

Sagripanti might whip up a torrent of raging sound from the Teatro Petruzzelli’s splendid refrain and orchestra, as within the terrifying opening scene. Below his baton, nonetheless, the orchestra might additionally create shimmering, clear sounds that simmered with thriller and sensuousness. His acute consideration to the drama, in addition to the pacing and the deal with stability, had been key drivers in making this efficiency so highly effective.

Rick Perdian