Opera Philadelphia - Otello Reviews

Melis May Sagay from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

OTELLO ROSSINI

Rossini can you hear me? Written in 1816 and staged in 2022, Otello is a true musical feast. The orchestra is incredible. But a risk-free staging approach dominates the play. What was the reason for staging this play in the 1920s? I can't help but think. An incredible simplicity and colorlessness destroys the excitement of the play. A monochromatic decor that serves no purpose is the columns surrounding 2/5 of the stage. Gray and blue costumes. One cannot help but ask what is the color of jealousy. Without Desdemona's hair, it's as if there was no color at all. Rodrigo, who drowns out everyone in duets and trios. Fortunately, there are Emilia and Iago, and we see that she can turn into a leading character in her side characters. If the choir didn't make a sound in one or two places, it would seem like they wouldn't be able to go on stage. Stairs that were literally used after Desdemona died. Is the opera stage just the place where singers go on stage and sing their songs? Is it necessary to use not the possibilities of the theater? Isn't a symmetry an aesthetic perception necessary for the play ? Only the middle and right of the stage are used, why not the left? It is an indisputable fact that a classical work is long. But when a work written 200 years ago according to the wishes of that period is being staged again 200 years later, shouldn't a dramaturge be needed? Anyway, let's say life is short, art is long, performances are beautiful, and let's end it here.

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