On July 8th, 12th and 15th, Gregory Kunde will give life to Otello, the leading role of the opera of the same name by Giuseppe Verdi, at the Royal Opera House of London. Many consider Kunde to be one of the best Otellos singing today and he is one of the few tenors to have taken on the role in the Verdi opera as well as the Rossini opera, even going so far as to perform them both during the same season.
This is Gregory Kunde’s second engagement at the London theatre this year, following his great success as Manrico, the main character of Il Trovatore, in a production by the German director David Bösh, with the British Richard Farnes conducting. Now the American tenor will be singing Otello in the well-known lyrical drama in four acts by Verdi, with libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Shakespeare’s play Othello. Antonio Pappano will be conducting the Orchestra and Chorus of the Royal Opera House in this new ROH production, which will be directed by Keith Warner. On stage with the American tenor will be Željko Luèiæ, as Iago, Frédéric Antoun, as Cassio, and Dorothea Röschmann, in the role of Desdémona.