Maria Luigia Borsi as Desdemona, Simon O'Neill as Otello Photo: APO (still from video)
This recording of Verdi's Otello from the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra earned RNZ a Silver Award at the prestigious New York Festivals Radio Awards 2017.
Taut, concentrated and overwhelmingly powerful, 'Otello' lays bare the extremes of human emotion.
Otello, commander of Venetian forces in Cyprus, is blissfully married to the beautiful Desdemona. Driven by a motiveless evil, Otello’s ensign Iago poisons him against his blameless wife. Otello’s desperate, harrowing disintegration into catastrophe is the essence of timeless tragedy.
Act 1:
Act 2:
Act 3:
Act 4:
Performed by The Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, in association with New Zealand Opera on Friday 29 July 2016 in Auckland Town Hall.
Sound by RNZ Concert, video by JX Live.
Conductor: Giordano Bellincampi
Cast includes:
Otello: Simon O’Neill
Desdemona: Maria Luigia Borsi
Iago: Scott Hendricks (listen to Eva Radich's interview with the versatile baritone)
Cassio: James Egglestone
Emilia: Sarah Castle
Roderigo: Andrew Glover
Montano: James Ioelu
Lodovico: Pelham Andrews
The Freemasons NZ Opera Chorus
Director: John Rosser
Otello Photo: APO
