Otello preview from San Francisco Opera

In Verdi's masterful adaptation of Shakespeare's tragedy, a great warrior discovers the one weapon against which he has no defense—his own jealousy. Johan Botha, the South African tenor praised by The New York Times for his "effortless power and clarion tone," makes his San Francisco Opera debut in the title role. Bulgarian soprano Zvetelina Vassileva brings tenderness and vocal brilliance to the role of Desdemona, the faithful wife who finds facts are no match for manufactured suspicion. Music Director Nicola Luisotti, praised by London's Financial Times for conveying Verdi's "sweep, lyricism and subtle detail," conducts.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Otello
• Giuseppe Verdi
• Verdi
• Opera
• San Francisco
• San Francisco Opera
• Shakespeare
• Othello
• Johan Botha
• Zvetelina Vassileva
• Nicola Luisotti
• Marco Vratogna

[kh3205]

Botha is really a great singer. At a met Meistersinger performance, the audience giggled when they saw him on stage. However, once he started to sing, they became totally queit. On video, it is very difficult to understand the effect of his voice. His voice does not have the weight and squillo associated with the role. However, his voice is loud enough to sing Lohengrin: Othello is not too much of stretch for him. In any case, Botha is a singer you need to experience LIVE.

[laampdegroot]

Botha posee una técnica depurada, lo cual puede apreciarse en la claridad de su voz en todo el registro y en la ausencia de indicadores de esfuerzo al cantar. También maneja muy bien los matices y la expresión. Sin embargo, es un tenor lírico, ni siquiera spinto, por lo que no convenze en los roles de tenor dramático que realiza.

[tenorismo]

@omarihardy Its shit . Modern singers are being trained not to have big voices. And all the Stars ,and Divo and Diva are in heaven.

[tenorismo]

.51 secounds . She looks like she is sitting on Santas lap.

[thedridis]

I saw this and it was very good. It was very moving. I thought the guy who played Othello did a great job. He does not look like a hero, but I was convinced and very moved by the performance.

[FacePaster]

this tenor is getting tons of work singing the heroic repertoire in all the biggest houses in the world. just goes to show that there's room at the top. let us not lose the memory of Martinelli, Vinay, Del Monaco, VIckers, and Domingo and what heroic singing used to sound like.

[Moreofthesamez]

@PaulHaigh072

ROLLING ON THE FLOOR LAUGHING

[omarihardy]

@henryus1

What does that say about the state of opera today? Nothing good!

[omarihardy]

This is utter trash!

[Nello7]

I just peed myself- thank you for that! Bulldog chewing a wasp, now THAT is accurate!!!!