OTELLO  

November 5, 2009

Thursday 7:30pm

Detail:

It promises to be the season opener of the century: Renowned tenor Clifton Forbis, Georgian baritone Lado Ataneli and acclaimed German soprano Annette Dasch - making her American debut - in a new production of Verdi's 1887 masterpiece chosen to inaugurate the Margot and Bill Winspear Opera House at the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts, beginning October 23, 2009.

OTELLO, based on one of William Shakespeare's most intense dramas, is a tale of passionate love derailed by the Machiavellian schemes of Iago, a figure of profound evil. A jealous husband is manipulated into a murderous rage against his innocent wife, with tragic results for all.

This new Dallas Opera production - conducted by Music Director Graeme Jenkins and staged by Tim Albery - stars Forbis, a leading artist with the Metropolitan Opera, Paris Opera and Teatro alla Scala, and Allan Glassman (Oct. 25th performance) "in clarion mature-career form as Otello," wrote Opera News, in the title role of the fatally flawed Moorish general. Ms. Dasch, a phenomenally beautiful European artist praised for her "impressive voice and crystal-clear coloratura" (Neue OZ) will sing the role of the doomed Desdemona while Ataneli, one of the world's most sought-after Verdian baritones with one of the "most mellifluous voices on the planet" (Los Angeles Times), portrays the famed villain of the piece.

Production design by Anthony Baker. Lighting by Thomas C. Hase.

Prepare to be staggered - and bring an extra hankie for Desdemona. It could save a life.

Sung in Italian with English supertitles