The President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, applauds for over five minutes in the royal box with his daughter Laura at the end of Verdi's Otello directed by Mario Martone, which tonight opened the opera season at the Teatro San Carlo. Alongside the Head of State, the President of the Chamber, Roberto Fico. Triumph for the German protagonist Jonas Kaufmann and the Campania soprano Maria Agresta in the role of a soldier Desdemona, armed with a pistol against Othello. Appreciation for the whole cast and in particular for Iago - Igor Golovatenko. Some dissent - coming from the boxes - to the courageous direction that has placed the current theme of femicide at the center, does not ruin the Martone party, indeed arousing new applause and many "good Mario" from a convinced audience, with a 30 percent foreign spectators.
The inauguration of the opera season with Giuseppe Verdi's Otello, directed by Mario Martone (who has transferred the action to the Middle East to the present day) has been in the offing for days in a Teatro di San Carlo, the protagonist is the German star Jonas Kaufmann with Maria Agresta in the role of Desdemona, soldier wife.
With the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella, in the royal box the President of the Chamber Roberto Fico. Among those present the Minister of Education Patrizio Bianchi, the president of the Campania Region Vincenzo De Luca, the Mayor of Naples, and president of the San Carlo Foundation, Gaetano Manfredi, the prefect of Naples Claudio Palomba. They were welcomed by superintendent Stéphane Lissner (in his second 'first' of the season at the end of Covid restrictions, after Emma Dante's La Bohème) and general manager Emmanuela Spedaliere.
For the new staging of the Neapolitan opera in co-production with the Teatro Massimo of Palermo, on the podium is Michele Mariotti who conducts the Sancarliana Orchestra and the Chorus prepared by José Luis Basso. Kaufmann will also be Otello in the performances on 24, 28 November, 1 and 4 December, Yusif Eyvazov will perform on 7, 10 and 14 December. Igor Golovatenko is Iago. Completing the cast: Alessandro Liberatore (Cassio), Matteo Mezzaro (Rodrigo), Emanuele Cordaro (Ludovico, the ambassador) Biagio Pizzuti (Montano), Manuela Custer (Emilia, Jago's wife), Francesco Esposito (A herald).
The sets are by Margherita Palli, the costumes by Ortensia De Francesco, the lights are by Pasquale Mari.
One hundred university students and students from Campania conservatories were invited together with the rectors and directors to the first thanks to the contribution of Concerto d'impresa.
At the San Carlo Verdi's opera with libretto by Arrigo Boito taken from Shakespeare's tragedy, arrived as a third stop in the same year 1887 as the first at La Scala, many great tenors who played the title protagonist at the Neapolitan Massimo, from Tamagno to Del Monk.
For Jonas Kaufmann it is the first opera 'on stage' in Neapolitan opera after the performances in the form of a concert.
