:For the Rossini opera, see Otello (Rossini).Otello is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Shakespeare's play Othello. It was first performed at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, on February 5, 1887.
Most music critics consider Otello to be Verdi's greatest and most mature tragic opera. In it, he tried to do away with the traditional recitative-aria structure of opera, much as Richard Wagner had done, except that in some cases, the distinction between recitative and aria is more clearcut in Otello than in any of Wagner's operas. Verdi's librettist, Arrigo Boito, was extremely faithful to Shakespeare's original play, except for the omission of Act I of the drama (everything having to do with Brabantio, Desdemona's father). The roles of Otello (Othello) and Iago are among the most fully developed in all of opera, almost as much so as in Shakespeare's original drama - especially the character of Otello himself (Iago is more of an out...
