Bayerisches Staatsorchester
Chorus of the Bayerische Staatsoper
Myung-Whun Chung, conductor

Production: Amélie Niermeyer
Set Design: Christian Schmidt
Costume Design: Annelies Vanlaere
Lighting: Olaf Winter
Video: Philipp Batereau
Assistant Choreographer: Thomas Wilhelm
Choruses: Stellario Fagone
Dramaturgy: Malte Krasting
Dramaturgy: Rainer Karlitschek

Like an outcry the elemental force of the orchestra shatters the silence, the storm on the coast of Cyprus rages incessantly. The wind whips, lightening cuts through the roaring skies. Giuseppe Verdi anticipated the sedition in the hearts of his characters in the revolting nature. His penultimate opera, with which he once again produced musical drama after a longer creative break, takes the listener by the throat and holds them so until the inevitable end. As Othello, the great general and commander becomes entangled in Iago’s web of machinations; as the calamitous seed of jealousy germinates and Othello’s love for his wife Desdemona begins to decay, even on their wedding day; as Desdemona, “nevertheless insists, although she senses or feels that this harm comes her way, and that Othello in his jealousy is really capable of killing her” (Amélie Niermeyer) – with his Otello Verdi created an operatic drama, the likes of which had never before been so tight, so direct, so intensive and so beautiful, and still today unmatched.