Maryland Lyric Opera To Perform Verdi's OTELLO Next Month

Maryland Lyric Opera (MDLO) presents Otello, the fourth production in its 2022-23 Season of Verdi, a survey of the composer's most accessible masterpieces, on Friday, March 3 and Sunday, March 5, 2023, at The Music Center at Strathmore in North Bethesda, Maryland.

A passionate retelling of the great tragedy of jealousy, deception, and murder, Verdi's Otello delivers a thrilling response to Shakespeare's play, from the violent storm that opens the opera, through to Iago's blood-chilling "Credo," and Otello's increasingly desperate duets with Desdemona. Verdi's score abounds with fiery ardor, penetrating the darkest reaches of the soul to illuminate the fear and fragility of the heart.

Philippe Auguin, the acclaimed former music director of Washington National Opera, returns to the region to conduct the MDLO Orchestra in his MDLO debut. Auguin, a protégé of Herbert von Karajan and Sir Georg Solti, brings his decades of experience conducting at the Metropolitan Opera, Teatro alla Scala, the Vienna State Opera, and the Royal Opera House to Strathmore for these highly anticipated performances. Audiences are once again invited into Shakespeares's dramatic world with impactful visuals led by David Gately.

Starring in the title role is the legendary tenor Gregory Kunde, who has performed this signature role on the most important stages in the world, including the Royal Opera House in London, the Opéra national de Paris, and the Vienna State Opera. Kunde sings alongside the internationally acclaimed Greek soprano Eleni Calenos as the faithful Desdemona and Mark Delavan, fresh off his triumph in the title role in MDLO's Falstaff, as the duplicitous Iago. The supporting cast includes MDLO favorite Yi Li as Cassio and Patricia Schuman in her MDLO debut as Emilia.

"Otello is one of the most difficult operas to program, as each of the three leading roles requires Olympic-level singers at the peak of their powers, so I am incredibly excited for our audiences to hear Gregory Kunde, Eleni Calenos, and Mark Delavan in these iconic roles," says MDLO Founder & Artistic Director Brad Clark. "And with Maestro Auguin leading the MDLO Orchestra and Chorus, our musical forces will unleash a passionate tempest of gale force from the opening storm until the opera's very last note."

Tickets for Otello are on sale now at Strathmore.org.