Susan Gerstein's Blog - Posts Tagged "otello"
"Otello" at the Met
The second performance of the new production of “Otello” at the Metropolitan Opera seen last week was indeed, as expected, musically wonderful: the magnificent orchestra, conducted superbly with just the right degree of urgency by Yannick Nezet-Seguin and a cast that did justice to one of the greatest operas ever composed. The role of Otello himself is considered one of the pinnacles of achievement by heroic tenors; I remember reading interviews with singers who sang Tristan but would not attempt Otello. The Latvian tenor Aleksandrs Antonenko more than fulfilled the demand vocally. The Iago of Zeljko Lucic was excellent, and Sonya Yoncheva, the Desdemona, was, to quote Anthony Tommassini’s review in the New York Times, “luminous”. The production, by Bartlett Sher who is responsible for several of the most successful directorial efforts at the Met during the last several seasons, was interesting but not one of his best: the transparent, glass-like walls and building facades that glide in and out became distracting and over-busy. One does not want to be concerned about moving scenery while shattering drama is taking place in the foreground. The incongruous scene early on when Iago pours his poisoned words into Otello’s ears that takes place in Otello’s bedroom is unlikely and, again, distracting. On the other hand, the arrival of the Venetian delegation and the grand reception scene was magnificent, and the sense of the sea in the background throughout the performance worked effectively. All in all, though this staging did in no way erase the memories of the previous version (by Elijah Moshinsky) which I miss, yet Bartlett Sher’s is a different way of seeing “Otello” and a worthwhile one.
My one major disagreement with the concept was a decision by the directorial staff and presumably the Met management to forego the customary make-up that turns Otello, when performed by a white singer/actor into who he actually is: a black man. I am aware of all the politically correct explanations for this and also aware of the history and offensiveness of white actors performing in blackface, clearly something no longer done routinely and good riddance to it. However. There are scenarios in which the race or gender of the characters depicted is so integral to the heart of the drama that changing it simply alters what we are seeing, sometimes diminishing it. Carmen is a gypsy: were a blond Scandinavian singer to perform the role, would she not wear a black wig or die her hair black? Chio-chio San is Japanese: there the drama is about the clash of two cultures. A black or white singer without any attempt to make her appear Japanese, with help of makeup and costume, would detract from the drama. “Otello” is a case in point. “Othello”, the Shakespeare play as well as the Verdi/Boito opera based on it is fundamentally about a brilliantly successful alien in a culture where he is admired and feted but simultaneously much resented for his very achievements. In this instance, his alien-ness is his blackness: we know his history (for he and Desdemona talk of it in the heartrendingly beautiful first act duet): he was born in the African desert, torn from his family, enslaved, and having escaped, overcame all obstacles, became a great warrior, a general, leading the Venetian army to victory. By the time he met Desdemona, the young Venetian noblewoman, he has had a long, arduous history, and therefore, not only is he an African man but a much older one than she. Their love, their marriage had to overcome many obstacles; the fact that he so easily succumbs to Iago’s evil machinations is the tragic result of his past and his insecure belief that he is indeed loved for himself. Iago, though thoroughly evil in all his ways, is mainly jealous because the brilliant, powerful man placed so high above him is – black. Ideally, there would be a black tenor singing the role, an Eric Owens (were he a tenor instead of a baritone) would be ideal. A white singer without any physical indication that he is an alien in this society diminishes the work.
This alien-ness could be shown if the entire opera was placed in a wholly different environment, in the mode of the regie-theater concept. If it took place in Japan, the alien could be a white person; if in space, the Earthling on Mars. Alas, such things had been done. But having left “Otello” in Venetian Cyprus (albeit in the 19th instead of the 16th century), what we get in this performance is the story of a gullible man prone to jealousy who easily falls for a slanderous accusation of his beloved wife and is maneuvered into murder. Having removed a crucial fact from it, there is drama, but not of the same magnitude. It is as if someone were to write about the Obama presidency years afterward and had failed to mention his race and the enormous race-based enmity Obama had to fight: not mentioning that he is a black man, elected twice, beloved by multitudes, and yet resented by many would leave the facts intact but remove a crucial element. So with it is with “Otello”.
My one major disagreement with the concept was a decision by the directorial staff and presumably the Met management to forego the customary make-up that turns Otello, when performed by a white singer/actor into who he actually is: a black man. I am aware of all the politically correct explanations for this and also aware of the history and offensiveness of white actors performing in blackface, clearly something no longer done routinely and good riddance to it. However. There are scenarios in which the race or gender of the characters depicted is so integral to the heart of the drama that changing it simply alters what we are seeing, sometimes diminishing it. Carmen is a gypsy: were a blond Scandinavian singer to perform the role, would she not wear a black wig or die her hair black? Chio-chio San is Japanese: there the drama is about the clash of two cultures. A black or white singer without any attempt to make her appear Japanese, with help of makeup and costume, would detract from the drama. “Otello” is a case in point. “Othello”, the Shakespeare play as well as the Verdi/Boito opera based on it is fundamentally about a brilliantly successful alien in a culture where he is admired and feted but simultaneously much resented for his very achievements. In this instance, his alien-ness is his blackness: we know his history (for he and Desdemona talk of it in the heartrendingly beautiful first act duet): he was born in the African desert, torn from his family, enslaved, and having escaped, overcame all obstacles, became a great warrior, a general, leading the Venetian army to victory. By the time he met Desdemona, the young Venetian noblewoman, he has had a long, arduous history, and therefore, not only is he an African man but a much older one than she. Their love, their marriage had to overcome many obstacles; the fact that he so easily succumbs to Iago’s evil machinations is the tragic result of his past and his insecure belief that he is indeed loved for himself. Iago, though thoroughly evil in all his ways, is mainly jealous because the brilliant, powerful man placed so high above him is – black. Ideally, there would be a black tenor singing the role, an Eric Owens (were he a tenor instead of a baritone) would be ideal. A white singer without any physical indication that he is an alien in this society diminishes the work.
This alien-ness could be shown if the entire opera was placed in a wholly different environment, in the mode of the regie-theater concept. If it took place in Japan, the alien could be a white person; if in space, the Earthling on Mars. Alas, such things had been done. But having left “Otello” in Venetian Cyprus (albeit in the 19th instead of the 16th century), what we get in this performance is the story of a gullible man prone to jealousy who easily falls for a slanderous accusation of his beloved wife and is maneuvered into murder. Having removed a crucial fact from it, there is drama, but not of the same magnitude. It is as if someone were to write about the Obama presidency years afterward and had failed to mention his race and the enormous race-based enmity Obama had to fight: not mentioning that he is a black man, elected twice, beloved by multitudes, and yet resented by many would leave the facts intact but remove a crucial element. So with it is with “Otello”.
