Verdi: Otello

“Storm still”, wrote Shakespeare. In Otello, rumbling thunder echoes the passions unleashed. A fervent admirer of the English playwright, Verdi composed a score abounding in fiery ardour: powerful music that penetrates to the heart of the most sombre reaches of the human soul, opposing Otello’s jealously, Iago’s perversity and the purity of the unhappy Desdemona. Under Andrei Șerban’s direction, gone are the stereotypes; instead, a production that shadows the tumults and shameful fears that drive humanity exposed here in all its fragility.