A team of hundreds, including the Jalisco Philharmonic Orchestra (JPO), is revving up for the opening night of the opera “Otello” by Giuseppe Verdi Wednesday, November 23, in Guadalajara’s Teatro Degollado.
“We are not an opera company,” said JPO General Manager Arturo Gómez at a press conference Wednesday. “Yet we have assembled an excellent line-up for ‘Otello.’” Singers and other creative contributors to this opera, scheduled for four performances, noted that preparatory work has been going on for months. At press time, some tickets were still available, although operas in Guadalajara generally sell out before opening day.
While several artists called their part in “Otello” a “dream role,” several more characterized the work as challenging, terrifying, difficult, complicated, demanding or scary. The four-act opera is notable as a mature work of Verdi’s that has been acclaimed since it was first performed in 1887. It was based on the play “Othello” by William Shakespeare.
The widely praised soloists in the Guadalajara production — tenor Issachah Savage, baritone Michael Chioldi, soprano Maija Kovalevska, mezzosoprano Cassandra Zoé Velasco, tenor Harold Meers, tenor Daniel Montenegro and bass Grigory Soloviov — are from several foreign countries and Mexico, prompting Gómez to characterize them as “a first-world cast.”
Asked why the embattled Jalisco State Choir (Coro del Estado de Jalisco) is not performing in this opera production, as they have done for the past 35 years, stage director Ragnar Conde gave high praise to the 54-member choir assembled by Timothy G. Ruff Welch, which includes his Zapopan Municipal Choir (Coro Municipal de Zapopan).
“It’s great to give an opportunity to new young voices to perform,” said Conde. “They have been doing very well, are very professional and, above all, young.”
“Otello”plays Wednesday, November 23, 8 p.m.; Friday, November 25, 8 p.m.; Sunday, November 27, 6 p.m.; and Wednesday, November 30, 8 p.m., Teatro Degollado, two blocks east of main cathedral, Guadalajara. www.ofj.com.mx. Tickets, expected to sell out in advance, are 150-650 pesos at Ticketmaster (33) 3818-3800 or Teatro Degollado box office from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. (33) 3614-4773.