Otello

SEB presents:

Opera by Giuseppe Verdi
Libretto by Arrigo Boito after William Shakespeare’s eponymous play
World premiere on February 3, 1887 in Teatro alla Scala
Premiere in the Estonian National Opera on September 25, 2026

Music Director and Conductor: Arvo Volmer
Stage Director: Vincent Boussard (France)
Conductor: Kaspar Mänd
Set and Costume Designers: Vincent Boussard, Domenico Franchi (Italy)
Video Designer: Nicolas Hurtevent (France)
Lighting Designer: Rasmus Rembel
Chief Chorus Master: Heli Jürgenson

Estonian National Opera celebrates its 120th birthday by bringing to the stage one of opera history’s most powerful tragedies, “Othello”. Shakespeare’s timeless story finds new life in Verdi’s music, where every note resonates with heartbreak and fateful beauty. In the hands of acclaimed French opera director Vincent Boussard, the production delves into the deepest recesses of the human psyche, seeking answers to questions that rise above mere jealousy and the thirst for revenge.

Vincent Boussard: “More than just a play about jealousy or the question of race, Verdi and Boito’s “Otello” depicts the fall of a world. Governed by Truth as its sacred bond and divine authority as the guarantee of an immutable and just order, this world is certain of its legitimacy and eternal existence. Yet, at the height of its power, it will collapse like a house of cards under the emergence of the “alternative fact,” a formidable weapon in the hands of those who know how to inject the poison of fake news into the flaws that threaten the inattentive and archaic being: vanity, blindness, and jealousy. Otello dies from opening his eyes too late.”

Cast:

Othello: Dimitris Paksoglou, Alessandro Fantoni
Jago: Dragudin Matic, Badral Chuluumbatar
Desdemona: Kadri Raalik, Elena Brazhnyk, Arete Kerge  
Cassio: Heldur Harry Põlda, Mart Madiste
Emilia: Aule Urb, Helen Lokuta      
Roderigo: Reigo Tamm, Rafael Dicenta 
Lodovico: Raiko Raalik, Priit Volmer    
Montano: Revere Taylor, Dragos Andrei Lionel   
Un Araldo: Jakob Tomson, Rein Saar