Otello Is the Jan. 5, 2019, Met Opera Saturday Matinee Broadcast

Summary: Verdi’s Otello is the Jan. 5, 2019, Met Opera Saturday matinee broadcast, numbering sixth of 24 in the 2018-2019 season’s schedule.

Verdi’s Otello airs Jan. 5, 2019, as the 2018-2019 Met Opera season’s sixth of 24 scheduled Saturday matinee radio broadcasts: Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, Facebook Aug. 14, 2018

Giuseppe Verdi’s Otello is the Jan. 5, 2019, Met Opera Saturday matinee broadcast, airing as the sixth of 24 scheduled Saturday matinee radio broadcasts during the 2018-2019 Met Opera season.

Italian opera composer Giuseppe Verdi (Oct. 10, 1813-Jan. 27, 1901) set his musical score for Otello to an Italian libretto by Italian composer and librettist Arrigo Boito (Feb. 24, 1842-June 10, 1918). Boito’s literary source was Othello by Elizabethan playwright William Shakespeare (bapt. April 26, 1564-April 23, 1616).

Verdi’s Otello premiered Feb. 5, 1887 at Teatro alla Scala in Milan, Lombardy region, north central Italy. Six years later, Verdi’s second collaboration with Boito, Falstaff, premiered Feb. 9, 1893, at La Scala.

The 2018-2019 Met Opera season premiere of Verdi’s Otello takes place Friday, Dec. 14, at 8 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Including the season premiere, the 2018-2019 season offers a total of seven performances of Otello.

Four performances take place in December 2018. In addition to the season premiere, the month’s performances are scheduled for Monday, Dec. 17, at 7:30 p.m.; Friday, Dec. 21, at 8 p.m.; and Friday, Dec. 28, at 7:30 p.m.

The month’s performances take place Wednesday, Jan. 2, at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, Jan. 5, at 1 p.m.; and closing night, Thursday, Jan. 10, at 7:30 p.m. January’s Saturday performance airs as the 2018-2019 Met Opera season’s fifth of 24 scheduled Saturday matinee radio broadcasts.

Gustavo Dudamel conducts all performances, including the Saturday matinee broadcast. The Venezuelan and Spanish conductor’s appearances in Otello mark his Metropolitan Opera debut.

Sonya Yoncheva appears in three December (Friday, Dec. 14; Monday, Dec. 17; Friday, Dec. 21) and all three January performances as Desdemona, whose love for naval hero Otello cannot thwart his murderous jealousy. The Bulgarian operatic soprano’s Metropolitan Opera debut happened Nov. 21, 2013, as Gilda in the opera house’s 859th performance of Verdi’s Rigoletto. In the 2018-2019 Met Opera season, Sonya Yoncheva also appears in the title role of Iolanta by Russian late-Romantic composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (May 7, 1840-Nov. 6, 1893).

Julianna Di Giacomo appears as Desdemona for the Friday, Dec. 28, performance. The American operatic soprano’s Metropolitan Opera debut happened Nov. 12, 2007, as Clotilde in the opera house’s 140th performance of Norma by Italian opera composer Vincenzo Bellini (Nov. 3, 1801-Sept. 23, 1835).

Jennifer Johnson Cano appears in all performances as Emilia. The American operatic mezzo-soprano’s Metropolitan Opera debut happened Sept. 22, 2009, as a Peasant in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro. In the 2018-2019 Met Opera season, Jennifer Johnson Cano also appears as Meg Page in Verdi’s Falstaff.

Stuart Skelton appears in five performances as Otello, manipulated by his ensign, Iago, into a fatal rage. He was originally scheduled for all seven but missed opening night, Friday, Dec. 14, and Friday, Dec. 28, because of illness. The Australian operatic heldentenor’s Metropolitan Opera debut happened as the Drum-Major in the opera house’s 61st performance of Wozzeck by Austrian composer Alban Berg (Feb. 9, 1885-Dec. 24, 1935).

Carl Tanner opens the 2018-2019 Met Opera season's presentation of Otello as title role replacement for Stuart Skelton. He also appears in the Dec. 28 performance as replacement for Stuart Skelton. The American operatic tenor's Metropolitan Opera debut happened as Dick Johnson in the opera house's 101st performance of La Fanciulla del West by Italian opera composer Giacomo Puccini (Dec. 22, 1858-Nov. 29, 1924). (Update per Dec. 14, 2018, tweet by The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera.) (Update per Dec. 28, 2018, tweet by The Metropolitan Opera ‏@MetOpera.)

Alexey Dolgov appears in all performances as Cassio, Otello’s captain, whom Iago falsely charges as Desdemona’s lover to Otello. The Siberian tenor’s Metropolitan Opera debut happened June 12, 2011, as Edgardo in the opera house’s 589th performance of Lucia di Lammermoor by 19th century Italian bel canto opera composer Gaetano Donizetti (Nov. 29, 1797-April 8, 1848).

Željko Lučić appears in all performances as Iago, a bold manipulator whose schemes center on disgracing Otello. The Serbian operatic baritone made his Metropolitan Opera debut Sept. 26, 2006, as Barnaba in the opera house’s 275th performance of La Gioconda by 19th century Italian opera composer Amilcare Ponchielli (Aug. 31, 1834-Jan. 16, 1886). In the 2018-2019 Met Opera season, Željko Lučić also appears as Sheriff Jack Rance in Puccini's La Fanciulla del West.

James Morris appears in all performances as Lodovico, ambassador of the Venetian Republic. The American bass-baritone’s Metropolitan Opera debut happened as the King in the opera house’s 782nd performance of Verdi’s Aida.

The 2018-2019 Met Opera season’s performances of Otello mark the first revival of Bartlett Sher’s 2015-2016 production. The American theater director’s staging debuted Sept. 21, 2015, as a new production in the opera house’s 326th performance of Otello.

Bartlett Sher’s production team comprises Catherine Zuber, costume designer; Luke Halls, projection designer; Es Devlin, set designer; and Donald Holder, lighting designer. Gina Lapinski is the revival stage director.

The takeaways for Otello as the Jan. 5, 2019, Met Opera Saturday matinee broadcast are that Verdi’s Shakespearean opera airs as the sixth of the 2018-2019 Met Opera season’s 24 scheduled Saturday matinee radio broadcasts and that the season’s performances mark the first revival of American theater director Bartlett Sher’s 2015-2016 new production.

The 2018-2019 Met Opera season's staging of Verdi's Otello is the first revival of Bartlett Sher's 2015-2016 new production, which debuted Sep. 21, 2015: The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Twitter Sept. 9, 2015

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Verdi’s Otello airs Jan. 5, 2019, as the 2018-2019 Met Opera season’s sixth of 24 scheduled Saturday matinee radio broadcasts: Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, Facebook Aug. 14, 2018, @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.134969600532.229232.20807115532/10160137120775533/

The 2018-2019 Met Opera season's staging of Verdi's Otello is the first revival of Bartlett Sher's 2015-2016 new production, which debuted Sept. 21, 2015: The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera, via Facebook Sep. 9, 2015, @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.134969600532/10160907173825533/

For further information:

“Debut: Alexey Dolgov.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 354020 Lucia di Lammermoor {589} Matinee ed. Tokyo, Japan: 06/12/2011.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=354020

"Debut: Carl Tanner." MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 353707 La Fanciulla del West {101} Metropolitan Opera House: 12/27/2010.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=353707

“Debut: Julianna Di Giacomo.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 352170 Norma {140} Metropolitan Opera House: 11/12/2007.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=352170

“Debut: Sonya Yoncheva.” MetOpera Database > “Debut: Sonya Yoncheva.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 355145 Rigoletto {859} Metropolitan Opera House: 11/21/2013.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=355145

“Debuts: Christopher Wheeldon, Holly Hynes, Zeljko Lucic . . .” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 351556 La Gioconda {275} Metropolitan Opera House: 09/26/2006.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=351556

“Debuts: Dan Ettinger, Emma Bell, Jennifer Johnson Cano.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 353075 Le Nozze di Figaro {442} Metropolitan Opera House: 09/22/2009.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=353075

“Debuts: James Morris, Jacques Cesbron.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 224150 Aida {782} Metropolitan Opera House: 01/7/1971.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=224150

“Debuts: Stuart Skelton, John Albert, Jonathan Kelly.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 353922 Wozzeck {61} Metropolitan Opera House: 04/06/2011.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=353922

Marriner, Derdriu. “2018-2019 Met Opera Season Premiere of Mefistofele Is Thursday, Nov. 8.” Earth and Space News. Monday, Oct. 29, 2018.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/10/2018-2019-met-opera-season-premiere-of_29.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “The Magic Flute Is Dec. 29, 2018, Met Opera Saturday Matinee Broadcast.” Earth and Space News. Monday, Dec. 24, 2018.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/12/the-magic-flute-is-dec-29-2018-met.html

Marriner, Derdriu. “Mefistofele Is First 2018-2019 Saturday Matinee Broadcast Dec. 1.” Earth and Space News. Monday, Nov. 26, 2018.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2018/11/mefistofele-is-first-2018-2019-saturday.html

Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. "12 days until Opening Night! Check out these early stage rehearsal photos of Verdi's OTELLO, opening September 21. . . .Photo by Ken Howard/Met Opera." Facebook. Sept. 9, 2015.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/photos/a.10156028469940533.1073741865.20807115532/10156122690515533/

Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. “Conducting sensation Gustavo Dudamel makes his Met debut leading Verdi’s towering Shakespearean masterpiece. . . .” Facebook. Feb. 15, 2018.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/posts/a.134969600532.229232.20807115532/10160137120775533/

Metropolitan Opera ‏@MetOpera. "For the performance of Otello on December 28, the role of Otello will be sung by Carl Tanner, replacing Stuart Skelton, who is ill. #CastChange." Twitter. Dec. 28, 2018.
Available @ https://twitter.com/MetOpera/status/1078649505627717634

Metropolitan Opera ‏@MetOpera. "For this evening’s performance of Otello, the role of Otello will be sung by Carl Tanner, replacing Stuart Skelton, who is ill. #CastChange." Twitter. Dec. 14, 2018.
Available @ https://twitter.com/MetOpera/status/1073660098734686211

The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. "Maestro Gustavo Dudamel makes his Met debut conducting Verdi's Otello on December 14. . . ." Facebook. Aug. 14, 2018.
Available @ https://www.facebook.com/MetOpera/posts/a.134969600532/10160907173825533/

The Metropolitan Opera @MetOpera. “Sneak peek of the new Bartlett Sher production of Verdi’s Otello, opening 9/21!” Twitter. Sept. 9, 2015.
Available @ https://twitter.com/MetOpera/status/641646007969841156

“New Production: Otello.” MetOpera Database > [Met Performance] CID: 356006 New Production Otello {326} Metropolitan Opera House: 09/21/2015.
Available @ http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=BibSpeed/fullcit.w?xCID=356006