Uppsala University to stage Verdi's opera Otello

After last year's success with Tosca, Uppsala University is now pursuing a new opera project. Otello will be staged in the University's Grand Auditorium in June 2010.

Giuseppe Verdi's Otello was premiered at La Scala in Milano in 1887. The libretto was written by Arrigo Boito, based on Shakespeare's play, where love, jealousy, and ethnicity are central themes. It is Verdi's next to last opera, a passionate and bloody chamber play engulfed by consummate orchestral passages and magnificent choral parts. The Uppsala version will be conducted by Stefan Karpe, director musices at Uppsala University, and directed by Wilhelm Carlsson, both well known from the Tosca project. The premier will be on June 12, 2010, followed by three more performances.

"Staging Tosca was an incredibly rewarding experience for everyone involved, both pros and students. We all felt that we had to tackle a new opera project, and Otello is one of the best operas ever written. The fact that it is not performed more often probably has to do with the extreme demands the title role places on a tenor," says Stefan Karpe.

In the Uppsala production, Michael Weinius will create his first Otello role. The other soloists are Emma Vetter (Desdemona) and Fredik Zetterström (Jago). All three performed in Tosca as well.

The remaining roles will be filled by singers from the University College of Opera and from various choirs in Uppsala. Moreover, within the framework of the project, an entirely new choir will be formed in the autumn, organized by Uppsala University Choral Centre. The orchestra will be the Royal Academic Orchestra.

"Thanks to our choirs, our Royal Academic Orchestra, and our fantastic soloists, we are uniquely poised to stage a world-class production," says Ulf Pettersson, who chairs the steering committee.

"Uppsala University has a vital role to play as a culture-bearing institution, and this is an excellent way to pursue this aspect of our activities," says Deputy Vice Chancellor Kerstin Sahlin.

Tickets for Otello will be released in the spring of 2010.

For more information, please contact Stefan Karpe, +46-(0)70-425 07 88, e-mail: Stefan.Karpe@musik.uu.se or Ulf Pettersson, +46-(0)70-425 04 97, e-mail: Ulf.Pettersson@genpat.uu.se