Otello

Otello is a four-act opera by Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901) to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito.

The original text

Based on Shakespeare's play Othello.

Premiered at La Scala Opera House in Milan on February 5, 1887.

Translations and adaptations

Performance history in South Africa

1964: Presented by the University of Cape Town Opera Company in the Cape Town City Hall, conducted by David Tidboald (April).

1964: Presented in the Cape Town City Hall, conduced by Erik Chisholm (3 and 4 November).

1964: Presented by PACOFS Opera.

1965: Presented by the University of Cape Town Opera Company in the Cape Town City Hall, conducted by David Tidboald (June).

1965: Presented by NAPAC Opera.

1977: Presented by CAPAB Opera, with Nellie du Toit as Desdemona, produced by Gregorio Fiasconaro, conducted by David Tidboald.

1981: Presented by PACT Opera.

1988: Presented by CAPAB Opera (15 October – 7 November)

2013: Presented by Cape Town Opera (6-13 April)

Sources

Cantoni, Linda and Schwarm, Betsy. "Otello". Encyclopedia Britannica, 22 Aug. 2014, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Otello-opera-by-Verdi.

Wayne Muller. 2018. A reception history of opera in Cape Town: Tracing the development of a distinctly South African operatic aesthetic (1985–2015). Unpublished PhD thesis.

Sjoerd Alkema. 2012. "Conductors of the Cape Town Municipal Orchestra, 1914-1965: a historical perspective". University of Cape Town. Unpublished PhD thesis.

Alexandra Xenia Sabina Mossolow. 2003. The career of South African soprano Nellie du Toit, born 1929. Unpublished Masters thesis. University of Stellenbosch.

Hilde Roos. 2012. 'Indigenisation and history: how opera in South Africa became South African opera'. Acta Academica Supplementum. 2012(1).