Germany Verdi, Otello: Soloists, Chorus and Extras of Theater Bremen, Bremer Philharmoniker / Sasha Yankevych (conductor). Theater Bremen, 16.4.2025. (DM-D)
Production:
Director – Frank Hilbrich
Stage design – Sebastian Hannak
Costume design – Lara Duymus
Lighting design – Christian Kemmetmüller
Chorus director – Karl Bernewitz
Dramaturgy – Brigitte Heusinger
Cast:
Otello – Aldo di Toro
Jago – Michael Partyka
Cassio – Ian Spinetti
Roderigo – Fabian Düberg
Lodovico – Jasin Rammal-Rykala
Montano – Arvid Fagerfjäll
Desdemona – Adèle Lorenzi
Emilia – Nathalie Mittelbach
A few moments before the music set in, the curtain opened to reveal a pleasantly grey frame with grey side and back walls. A large round opening, almost the entire height of the stage, had been cut into the rear wall. From it, a grey catwalk extended to the front of the stage but could be withdrawn into the backstage area. The area behind the round opening was at times a black void; at other times, a black curtain covered the area of the hole. Sometimes that curtain was raised to reveal a realistic representation of an old-fashioned kitchen area with a 1960s fridge, sometimes closed, sometimes open and then revealed to be crammed full to the brim. There were also a dining table and matching chairs with typically 1960s metal legs. An elderly couple inhabited the kitchen, at times asleep on the chairs, heads resting on their arms on the table, sometimes eating, sometimes moving about aimlessly and in extreme slow motion.
A flat piece of scenery hung from the ceiling, exactly the shape of the round opening, sometimes at varying vertical angles in relation to the opening, sometimes covering it to varying degrees horizontally. Its visible surface was covered with LED striplights programmed to all show the same colour, with different colours at different times, sometimes green, sometimes red and predominantly daylight.
A boy of about seven years of age appeared from the black void behind the opening at the beginning of the opera, running back into its darkness when the opera’s action and music started. The boy reappeared at the end of the opera, gazing at the scene in amazement.
The members of the chorus were sitting in the two front rows of the auditorium, men in the first row, women in the second row, dressed so that they were not recognisable as members of the company before curtain-up. Those two rows remained empty when the chorus was onstage or disappeared backstage and were used to striking effect towards the end of the opera, when Otello chased Desdemona into the front row and strangled her there, on the floor, not visible from the stalls, but perhaps from the tiers.
Some productions invite their audiences to revel in their intricate staging concepts and related decisions, leaving spectators frustrated when those concepts and decisions do not add up to a comprehensible and meaningful story. Frank Hilbrich’s Bremen production was more generous to its audiences. The framework provided by the aspects of the set and the use of the theatre spaces described above worked well to provide a visual context that was intriguing in its own right. It combined harmoniously and efficiently with close attention to detailed nuances of characterisation and of interpersonal relationships. Presented in this way, it was not necessary to know why precisely the round cover moved in which way at any given moment, or what precisely the kitchen scenes meant. The production thus worked holistically rather than appealing first and foremost to the intellect.
The permanent members of the Bremen opera company have been known to be particularly good actors as well as singers. Hilbrich, who has been the leading resident director with the company for a number of years, has developed this strength and can rely on it. Aldo di Toro joined the resident company in the title role. His acting skills were on a par with his peers. His voice was very well-suited to the demands of the role of Otello. The lower register sounded sonorous without becoming indistinguishable from a high baritone. Transitions between registers went unnoticed and di Toro was clearly completely at ease with the top register. He reached high notes without having to slide up to them, giving them a clarion ring. Shifts to mezza voce were elegant and well sustained.
Adèle Lorenzi presented a very young and, particularly in view of that young age, very self-assured and self-confident Desdemona. Her voice was up to the demands of the role and its nuances: she sounded firm yet mellow, with a captivating combination of bright, silvery, as well as more mature, fully rounded, golden tones. Her ‘Willow Song’ and ‘Ave Maria’ were very moving, culminating in a marvellously delivered high C.
Michal Partyka was mesmerising. His Jago had simply realised that he is governed by evil feelings and thoughts and decided to live his life accordingly, without compromise. Within that set – and fully intentional – frame, he was able to integrate many moments other than evil and hatred; moments of tenderness, even, and something coming near compassion, or at least pity, for the suffering he has caused, not merely glee. He thus became a more complex character than in productions that paint a rather one-dimensional picture. This take on Jago allowed Partyka a very nuanced vocal approach to his part: there were many instances of finely delivered mezza voce and beautifully sustained legato, as well as the powerfully sung rather than bellowed outbursts.
Ian Spinetti used his experience in leading roles to make Cassio much more than a subsidiary character. Vocally well on the road to Otello later on in his career, he presented Cassio as a likeable, if somewhat naïve fellow. Fabian Düberg (Roderigo), Jasin Rammal-Rykala (Ludovico) and Arvid Fagerfjäll (Montano) provided excellent support in their roles, as did Natalie Mittelbach as Emilia, who – appropriately for her character – held back vocally, except for the moments when her voice soared impressively over the chorus. The chorus was very well directed by Karl Bernewitz, achieving a high level of unison. The chorus members clearly relished their exposed positions in the front two rows of the auditorium, singing at full volume with some spectators (in row 3) only inches away from their faces – especially when the entire audience were invited to rise in honour of the arrival of the delegation from Venice.
Sasha Yankevych achieved a fine balance of music and singing, demonstrating a high level of sensitivity to the internal structure of Verdi’s sublime score and its specific rhythm.
Daniel Meyer-Dinkgräfe