2020 has been unofficially dubbed the year of amore e gelosia (love and jealousy) by the Manoel Theatre’s artistic director Kenneth Zammit Tabona, as it was his idea to stage the three versions of Othello in one calendar year.

The first one will be Gioachino Rossini’s Otello, which will be staged at the Manoel Theatre in the coming days, followed by Verdi’s version at Gozo’s Gaulitana Music Festival in April. In October, the Manoel will be producing Shakespeare’s Othello, the play that has been the catalyst for the two aforementioned operas.

“Love and jealousy are emotions that although are seemingly diametrically opposed, sadly often are inextricably intertwined,” Mr Zammit Tabona says.

“This is Othello in a nutshell; the Moor of Venice who was madly in love with the aristocratic Desdemona only to be led on into a frenzy of jealousy by the conniving Iago into murdering her when she was totally innocent. It tragically happens today when femicide still blots our reputation as a civilised country, turning men into beasts,” he added.

Otello might be a lesser-known work of Rossini but it is considered a milestone in the development of opera as musical drama. The work is based on a French adaptation of the story Othello, ou le More de Venise by Jean-François Ducis, which premiered at Teatro del Fondo in Naples in December 1816.

The new production will take the audience to the sumptuous world of the Venetian Renaissance, with the main place of action being the Ca’ d’Oro, an iconic palace on the Grand Canal.

Zammit Tabona chose Marco Mencoboni to conduct and Vivien Hewitt to stage the opera.

Hewitt is delighted to be back at the Manoel Theatre after a break of 26 years and to stage this opera.

“It is a marvellous opera rich in melodic inspiration but also dramaturgically very advanced for the period and a delight to stage,” Ms Hewitt says.

Unlike the Shakespeare play, Rossini’s Otello is entirely set in Venice and at the centre of the story are a letter and a lock of hair rather than a handkerchief. Before the start of the opera, Desdemona has been seen by her father, Elmiro, writing a love letter. To allay his suspicions, she tells him that the letter is for her suitor, Rodrigo, who is also the Doge’s son.

Elmiro entrusts the letter to Iago, expecting him to consign it to Rodrigo. The letter also contains a lock of hair and Desdemona quite rightly fears that these love tokens have fallen into the wrong hands.

“I will be underlining visually how these objects, as they pass from hand to hand, give rise to the series of misunderstandings unleashing the tragedy. I will show how Othello’s jealousy is exacerbated by the visual contexts Iago masterminds to make Desdemona seem unfaithful,” Ms Hewitt notes.

Her take on the opera is a traditional one.

It is a marvellous opera rich in melodic inspiration

Although the Otello libretto draws on early French and Italian adaptations of Shakespeare that alter both the characters and storyline, the powerful themes at the centre of the drama remain exactly the same: mixed-race relationships, love between individuals of very different ages and social backgrounds, gender inequality, mobbing and feminicide.

“I too want to be daring... and in the age of the trendily conceptual, the greatest act of artistic originality and artistic integrity I can commit to is to try to tell the story exactly the way the authors would have wanted it. ‘Traditional’ has become a strangely pejorative term and perhaps it is high time to redeem it for the sake of both public and performers, so this will be a traditional production” she remarks.

Maestro Mencoboni was able to consult the original Rossini manuscript page by page.

“This was fantastic, not only because the hand-writing of the maestro in itself is an important source of inspiration, but also because even the best critical edition, such as the one we will use for our production, is forced ‒ or wants ‒ to make decisions that can be misleading for the performer and, above all, for orchestral masters. So, having Rossini’s notations at first hand were extremely helpful to me,” he says.

“The Maltese edition will be cleared of unjustified musical decisions. We hope that our vision will produce a fresh, colourful and easily understandable Otello,” he continues.

A young cast will bring the opera to life, with Cliff Zammit Stevens as Otello, Roberto Jachini Virgili as Iago, Valentina Mastrangelo as Desdemona, Nico Darmanin as Rodrigo, Francesca Sartorato as Emilia, Albert Buttigieg as Elmiro, Stanley Joe Portelli as Doge, and Alan Sciberras as Lucio/Gondolier. They will be accompanied by KorMalta and the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra.

The costumes, based on the woodblocks by Titian’s nephew Cesare Vecellio, and set were all created in-house by the teams of Dorothy Ebejer and Ray Farrugia.

Performances are being held at the Manoel Theatre, Valletta, tomorrow and on March 3, 5 and 7 at 7.30pm. For tickets, log on to www.teatrumanoel.com.mt. The event is supported by BOV.