Metropolitan Opera, PBS and THIRTEEN New York join forces once again for a ninth season of opera telecasts, beginning in Jan. 2015.
Verdi’s late masterpiece based on Shakespeare's tragic drama of jealousy and deceit, “Otello,” airs on THIRTEEN’S GREAT PERFORMANCES AT THE MET Sunday, Feb. 21 on PBS. Tony Award-winning director Bartlett Sher's acclaimed new production is led by dynamic conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin with Aleksandrs Antonenko in his first Met performance as the tormented Moor of Venice, with Sonya Yoncheva in her role debut as his innocent wife, Desdemona.
Also featuring Željko Lučić as Otello's sinister rival, Iago, Dimitri Pittas as Cassio, and Günther Groissböck as Lodovico, this staging also marks the Met debut of set designer Es Devlin, whose previous designs include the 2014 revival of "Machinal" on Broadway and numerous opera productions for Covent Garden, La Scala, and other leading companies. Bass-baritone Eric Owens hosts the broadcast.
When the production opened the Met’s current season, The New York Times noted, "[Sonya] Yoncheva is poised for a major career… Her luscious sound has just enough of an earthy tinge and texture to balance the shimmer of her singing,” adding, “What other soprano right now can sing the 'Willow Song' and 'Ave Maria' more beautifully?"
The Financial Times judged the production to be "a serious and compelling effort with a magnificence worthy of the Met… Conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin led a performance of cracking authority.”
And The Washington Post found it to be "a compelling and sensitive reading of Verdi's score that never lost its focus on the narrative and emotional arc of the story while mining the depths of this beautiful, shifting, chiaroscuro music."
GREAT PERFORMANCES AT THE MET is a presentation of THIRTEEN Productions LLC for WNET, one of America’s most prolific and respected public media providers.
Past episodes of GREAT PERFORMANCES are available for online viewing. GREAT PERFORMANCES is on Facebook, and you can follow @GPerfPBS on Twitter. The Metropolitan Opera is on Facebook, Instagram, and you can follow @MetOpera on Twitter.
GP at the Met: Otello (2016) - Preview
"Tony Award-winning director Bartlett Sher’s acclaimed new Met Opera production is led by conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin with Aleksandrs Antonenko in his first Met performance as Otello
Željko Lučić as Iago in GP at the Met: Otello
"Željko Lučić
GP at the Met: Otello Act III Finale
"Aleksandrs Antonenko (Otello)
