Otello is a tragic opera in four acts by the Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi . The libretto (text), in Italian, was written by Arrigo Boito. It was based on the English playwright William Shakespeare’s tragedy Othello. The opera was first performed at La Scala, Milan, Italy, on Feb. 5. 1887.
Boito’s libretto does not include events at the start of Shakespeare’s play, but instead sets the entire action in Cyprus. At the opening, the people are awaiting the return of the Moor Otello, the Venetian governor of the island. After Otello arrives, his ensign (assistant) Iago conceives a plan to kill him in revenge for Otello’s promoting the young captain Cassio above him. Cassio gets into a fight, and Iago engineers his dismissal.
Iago then makes Otello think that his wife Desdemona is being unfaithful to him with Cassio. When, with Iago’s encouragement, she pleads for Cassio’s reinstatement, Otello angrily refuses. After snatching Desdemona’s handkerchief from Emilia, his wife and Desdemona’s maid, Iago informs Otello that he saw the handkerchief in Cassio’s hand. Otello once more angrily rejects Desdemona’s pleas on behalf of Cassio. After Iago shows him further “proof” of her infidelity, Otello plans to murder her. An ambassador comes from Venice with the news that Cassio is to take over from Otello as governor. An enraged Otello flings Desdemona to the ground and curses her. Meanwhile, Iago eggs on Roderigo, who was in love with Desdemona, to pick a fight with Cassio and try to kill him.
In her bedchamber, Desdemona is unable to understand why her husband is acting with such hostility toward her. She remembers a melancholy song her mother’s maid had sung about a forsaken lover (the “Willow Song”). Otello enters her bedroom and, despite her pleas of innocence, smothers her. Emilia brings news that Roderigo is dead and reveals Iago’s plot. A distraught Otello, tormented with guilt, stabs himself, kissing Desdemona as he dies.
The role of Otello is one of the greatest challenges for a dramatic tenor, as is the role of Iago for a dramatic baritone. Each character has a magnificent monologue that requires tremendous interpretive depth, and the two join for a powerful duet that ends Act II. The lyric soprano who plays Desdemona should combine a warm, beautiful voice with a gracious and highly sympathetic personality. The role requires glorious singing in each of the opera’s four acts.
