Janis and I went to go see Verdi's 'Otello' Sunday at the San Diego Opera. We're the tall brunette and buxom blonde over on the left balcony, the ones cracking each other up during intermission.
No, no, farther over. Yeah. That was us.
It was, in a nutshell, wonderful.
Otello is, of course, a version of Shakespeare's Othello. Magnificent opening, set at the start of Act II of the play, when Othello arrives triumphant at Cyprus. There's lightning flashing, people running all over the place -- it was amazing.
You miss a little setup by starting in Act II, but also, oddly, I think, gain more insight into Othello's basic insecurity. He doesn't think he's worthy of Desdemona, which is what makes it so easy for him to believe Iago's lies. Iago, however, gets painted I think less complexly than he deserves. There's jealousy, and a lot of it, but there's also a delight I think in manipulating people for the sake of manipulation. He just can't resist.
Desdemona sings this lovely, light (not lighthearted, light, almost sotto voce) Ave Maria before going to what will become her deathbed. Subtly stunning.
All the voices were uniformly superb, the costumes fabulous, and the whole crowd boo'd Iago during curtain call, which he loved.
The sets, for every production we've seen, have been uniformly incredible. Just incredible.
This is the last opera Janis and I will go to see together this season (though I'm going to see Butterfly with someone else), and we're already making plans for a full 5-opera subscription for next season: Turandot, The Pearl Fishers, Don Carlo, Katya Kabonova, and La Traviata.
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