Organization

Conductor

Myron Michailidis

Stage director

Marin Blažević

Singer

Soprano

Anamarija Knego

Desdemona

Bass

Slavko Sekulić

Lodovico

Choreographer

Selma Banich

Lighting designer

Alan Vukelić

Dalibor Fugošić

Set designer

Costume designer

Sandra Dekanić

ASSISTANT - MANAGER

Igor Vlajnić

Tenor

Dimitris Paksoglou

Otello

Baritone

Daniil Alekseenko

Iago

Mezzo-soprano

Michaela Selinger

Emilia

God Jurić Pešić

Cassio

Marko Fortunato

Roderigo

Davor Nekjak

Montano

Chorus master

Matteo Salvemini

Croatian National Theatre “Ivan PL. Zajc” Rijeka

Others

Riječki operni zbor

Orchestra

Croatian National Theatre Ivan Zajc Opera Orchestra

Choral Ensemble of Heraklion

Cultural Conference Center of Heraklion

Otello -  (Othello)

Heraklion

Greece

Cultural Conference Center of Heraklion Crete

Andreas and Maria Kalokerinou Hall

Rijeka

Croatia

HNK Zajc

Otello Verdi

Public

Private

Othello

Approved

Giuseppe VerdiOtelloDirigent: Ville MatvejeffDramaturg-redatelj: Marin BlaževićUloge:Otello: Luis Chapa / Kalle KanttilaDesdemona: Anamarija Knego / Ana Petr...

Why do many who consider themselves representatives of the traditional Rijeka opera audience and persistently rely on their affection for Verdi, deprive that same Verdi of the right to - tragedy, so they prefer to watch and listen to his operas (even Traviata and Rigoletto) as casual melodramas, painless combinations of historicist atmosphere and recognizable melodies? Does Verdi's "too dark" Otello stand any chance in such an environment?

If we Otello as a «musical drama», we ask ourselves - how to intensify and dynamically vary the relationship between the dramatic and musical dimensions in the performance of the opera in which Verdi came closer than in any other work to Richard Wagner's genre concept and actually surpassed it, obviously aware that the basis of dramatic form and tension is dialogue, as opposed to monologue or Wagnerian monologized dialogues?

In our performance of Otello special attention to the acting performance. How to dramaturgically and choreographically design the relationship between symbolic and realistic gesture; to what extent to build a fictional character identity from the acting identities of our opera singers? How to make age and looks unimportant compared to personality and performance determination, strength, sincerity?

Does the action of this opera necessarily take place in reality or in Othello's nightmare? Caused by jealousy? Obsessive character? His outsider complex? Whose or what is Othello - a victim? Origin? Affiliation? Status? Ambitions? Impetuous temper? Jaga? Anyone noticing the different color of his skin? Except Desdemona?

Does the action of this opera necessarily take place in reality or in Iago's theater of evil? Why should we look for a motive for his action, an answer to - why? Is it possible to rationalize evil?

How to stage a world in which the boundaries of dream and theater, sea and evil, are scattered and indefinable? A world you don't enter, from which you don't leave (from the scene); in which it appears and – disappears? As a shadow, apparition, apparition, dreamy image, suggestion, silhouette...

Can Emilia become more than a secondary character, win a dramatic role more important than Iago's wife and Desdemona's companion, survive in a world that reduces women to a function in the reproduction of the species and nation, an object within the reach of the desire of the other sex, a collateral victim in the "war games" of husbands, fathers, brothers? Can the character of Emilia be a guide for a feminist reading of the opera about Othello, that is - Desdemona?

We ask ourselves: why is this tragic opera called Otello and not Desdemona ? Or, in the "dark" reality of the world that captures us - Iago ?

Undoubtedly – ​​the play Desdemona / Otello / Iago was created as a collaboration in which the firm boundaries of the author's roles were overcome. Selma Banich was not only a choreographer, but also the closest playwright interlocutor; Sandra Dekanić was not only a costume designer, but also a creator of costumes that fill the space with scenography; Dalibor Fugošić and Alan Vukelić did not only shape the light, but also created a light installation in function of scenography.

Unquestionably - I dedicate this play to my daughter Margareta, a young woman who stubbornly refuses to be anyone's victim; to every woman who fights not to become a victim, and to every woman who should never have been a victim!

Marin Blažević, playwright-director

English

Zašto mnogi koji sebe smatraju predstavnicima tradicionalne riječke operne publike i uporno se uzdaju u svoju naklonost Verdiju, tom istom Verdiju oduzimaju pravo na – tragediju, pa njegove opere (čak i Traviatu i Rigoletta) najradije gledaju i slušaju kao neobavezne melodrame, bezbolne spojeve historicističkog ugođaja i prepoznatljivih melodija? Ima li u takvom okruženju Verdijev «previše mračni» Otello ikakvu šansu?

Ako bismo Otella opisali kao «glazbenu dramu», pitamo se – kako intenzivirati i dinamički varirati odnos između dramske i glazbene dimenzije u predstavi opere kojom se Verdi više nego u ijednom drugom djelu približio žanrovskom konceptu Richarda Wagnera i zapravo ga nadmašio, očigledno svjestan da je u osnovi dramske forme i napetosti dijalog, nasuprot monologu odnosno wagnerijanskim monologiziranim dijalozima?

U našoj smo predstavi Otella posebnu pažnju posvetili glumačkoj izvedbi. Kako dramaturški i koreografski osmisliti odnos između simboličke i realističke geste; do koje mjere graditi fikcionalni identitet lika iz glumačkih identiteta naših opernih pjevačica i pjevača? Kako godine i izglede učiniti nevažnima spram osobnosti i izvedbene odlučnosti, snage, iskrenosti?

Odvija li se radnja ove opere nužno u zbilji ili Otellovoj noćnoj mori? Izazvanoj ljubomorom? Opsesivnim karakterom? Njegovim kompleksom autsajdera? Čija odnosno čega je Otello – žrtva? Porijekla? Pripadnosti? Statusa? Ambicije? Nagle naravi? Jaga? Svih koji primjećuju drugačiju boju njegove kože? Osim Desdemone?

Odvija li se radnja ove opere nužno u zbilji ili u Jagovu teatru zla? Zašto bismo njegovu djelovanju tražili motiv, odgovor na – zašto? Zar je zlo moguće racionalizirati?

Kako scenski prikazati svijet kojemu su granice prema snu i teatru, mori i zlu, raspršene i neodredive? Svijet u koji se ne ulazi, iz kojeg se ne izlazi (sa scene); u kojem se pojavljuje i – nestaje? Kao sjena, privid, utvara, snolika slika, sugestija, silueta…

Može li Emilija postati više od sporednog lika, osvojiti dramaturšku ulogu značajniju od Jagove žene i Desdemonine pratilje, opstati u svijetu koji ženu svodi na funkciju u reprodukciji vrste i nacije, objekt u dometu želje drugog spola, kolateralnu žrtvu u «ratnim igrama» muževa, očeva, braće? Može li lik Emilije biti putokaz za feminističko čitanje opere o Otellu, odnosno – Desdemoni?

Pitamo se: zašto se ova tragična opera uopće zove Otello, a ne – Desdemona? Ili, u «mračnoj» realnosti svijeta koji nas zarobljuje – Jago?

Neupitno – predstava Desdemone / Otella / Jaga nastala je kao suradnja u kojoj su čvrste granice autorskih uloga prevladane. Selma Banich nije bila samo koreografkinja nego i najbliža dramaturška sugovornica; Sandra Dekanić nije bila samo kostimografkinja nego i kreatorica kostima koji upravo scenografski ispunjavaju prostor; Dalibor Fugošić i Alan Vukelić nisu samo oblikovali svjetlo nego i kreirali svjetlosnu instalaciju u funkciji scenografije.

Neupitno – ovu predstavu posvećujem svojoj kćeri Margareti, mladoj ženi koja uporno odbija biti bilo čijom žrtvom; svakoj ženi koja se bori žrtvom ne postati, i svakoj ženi koja žrtvom nikada nije smjela biti!

Marin Blažević, dramaturg-redatelj

Deutsch

Othello by Verdi, From (2022/2022), Directed by Marin Blažević,, Conductor Myron Michailidis, HNK Zajc, Rijeka, Croatia

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