Giuseppe Verdi: OTELLO

After nearly three decades, Verdi’s Otello, the tragic tale of the Moor of Venice, returned to the stage of the Slovene National Theatre Opera and Ballet Maribor this February. The production was directed by acclaimed Swiss director Guy Montavon, who also serves as Secretary General of the European Association of Theatre Directors. His interpretation sheds a new light on Shakespeare’s famous story of jealousy, betrayal, and murder.

The libretto, adapted by Arrigo Boito – a renowned translator of European literary classics – provided the foundation for one of Verdi’s final operatic masterpieces. In Otello, Verdi wove together lush orchestration, dramatic intensity, and vocal virtuosity, while incorporating compositional elements reminiscent of Richard Wagner, long considered one of his artistic rivals.

The musical direction was entrusted to the versatile Finnish conductor Ville Matvejeff, who is already familiar to Slovenian audiences through his work with the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra and currently serves as chief conductor and artistic director of the Croatian National Theatre Opera in Rijeka.