Otello

• Verdi’s penultimate opera, Otello, premiered at La Scala in 1887 to much acclaim and excitement, largely due to the level of international fame that the composer had achieved by this point in his life. That being said, the opera hasn’t maintained the same status among standard repertoire as some of his earlier operas, such as La Traviata and Aïda.
• The libretto for the four-act opera was written by Arrigo Boito, who based his text on the Shakespeare play.¹
• Verdi greatly admired Shakespeare and described the poet as “the great searcher of the human heart.”²
• The opera is written as a seamless music-drama without traditional stand-alone arias, similar to a Wagnerian opera.³

Opera Synopsis

Ballet Music

• Verdi was obligated to produce ballet music for the opera’s Paris premiere in 1894, which was inserted into the third act. Contemporary productions typically omit the ballet music despite it running less than six minutes in its entirety. The ballet music from Otello has since become a common stand-alone concert piece and consists of the following seven sections:
  1. Allegro vivace
  2. Arabian Song
  3. Invocation to Allah
  4. Greek Song
  5. Dance
  6. The People of Murano
  7. The Warrior’s Song⁴

1.  Roger Parker, “Verdi, Giuseppe,” Grove Music Online (2001), accessed August 22, 2022, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000029191.
2. Linda Cantoni and Betsy Schwarm, “Otello,” Encyclopedia Britannica, accessed August 22, 2022, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Otello-opera-by-Verdi.
3. Ibid.
4. José Serebrier, Essay in accompanying booklet, Verdi: Complete Ballet Music from the Operas performed by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra conducted by José Serebrier, Naxos NX 2818, 2012, compact disc.