Adapting Shakespeare into different media is an artistic strategy that is nearly as old as the Bard himself. Whether it was 19th century ‘improved’ versions of the plays (King Lear with a happy ending, for instance), 20th century musical adaptations (Kiss Me Kate and West Side Story) or the omnipresent film and TV versions, there seems no end to the versatility with which Will’s works can be transmogrified. However, it was the opera that saw many of the greatest adaptations of the plays, and Verdi who was arguably the pre-eminent figure behind them, with his versions of the history plays, Falstaff, and possibly the greatest of them all, Otello, which has now been memorably revived by the ENO.
If the play Othello is a tragedy based on a great man brought low through jealousy and deceit, then the opera Otello is focussed more on the way in which the potential for violence and suspicion lurks within all of us. As sung with great power and charisma by Stuart Skelton, Otello here is a man who is only too willing to believe Iago’s lies and misrepresentations, perhaps because he has always mistrusted Desdemona (a touching and vocally striking Leah Crocetto) from the beginning, or simply because despite his status as the great defender of liberty, he has an innate loathing for the people whom he set out to defend. (Shades, perhaps, of Coriolanus here.) All of which means that Iago, here portrayed as a creepy yet vaguely diffident NCO by Jonathan Summers, needs only to suggest rather than inform, and thus Otello’s anger is complete.
Under the carefully considered direction of veteran David Alden, this is not a production that seeks to redefine the possibilities of what the opera is. The staging seems to suggest a mid-20th century fortress, but is fundamentally subsidiary to the drama played out within its confines. Only once, by having the tragic events of the final act played out publicly rather than privately, does an artistic idea not seem wholly to work. But this is more than made up for by the energy and force of the rest of it. Verdi’s score – one of his very best – is given breathtakingly passionate life by the great Edward Gardner, with the orchestra giving a supple and elegant performance of the score. This is high-grade, first-class opera, and it could be held up in comparison to anything that any other great house is doing anywhere in the world, which is, after all, the highest praise that any production can be offered.
Otello at the London Coliseum, St Martin’s Lane, WC2, until Friday 17th October 2014. For more information and tickets visit the website.
