|
MUSICAL HIGHLIGHT
Trouble Offstage and On: A Close Look
at Otello’s Storm Music
MUSICAL HIGHLIGHTS ARE
BRIEF OPPORTUNITIES TO
Music, particularly in opera, can provide a kind of “special effect,” and Otello begins
• help students make sense of opera
and the voices of characters observing the storm from the shore. But this scene also
• whet their interest in upcoming
Live in HD transmissions
introduces several of the main characters and their thoughts about Otello: not all
Each focuses on audio selections from
Otello available online at metopera.
org/education or the accompanying
CD. Texts and translations are
available in the back of this guide.
These “mini-lessons” will in practice
take up no more than a few minutes
of class time. They’re designed to help
you bring opera into your classroom
while minimizing interruption of your
ongoing curriculum. Feel free to use
as many as you like.
with a great example: a terrible storm at sea, conveyed entirely through instruments
citizens of Cyprus are fans of their leader.
The opera sets off with a bang: a rush of sound, complete with crashing cymbal,
that all but throws listeners into the wind and rain (Track 27). Citizens of Cyprus,
assembled at the harbor, watch the offstage tempest toss Otello’s warship about.
Various groups call to one another as a flash of lightning reveals first a sail (Track 28),
then a flag (Track 29) in the darkness. Someone hears a trumpet call; someone
else confirms it (Track 30). A cannon is fired (Track 31). As the storm-tossed ship
rises and falls offstage, so does the music, leaping from one group of choristers to
another. Violins slide up scales and down as basses pound and trumpets burst out
with loud ascending scales, enacting the disorder of the waves (Track 32). Onlookers
pull together in harmony to pray for sun and victory, but the violent storm roars on
beneath (Track 33).
A single, strong voice rings out with bad news: Iago, Otello’s adviser, has seen
the mast of Otello’s vessel snap (Track 34). Fear grips the crowd. It’s here that,
amid cries for help, against rhythms slashing down like rain, Verdi and Boito insert
an element that could not conflict more dramatically with the general mood. On a
descending musical line, amid the hysteria, Iago dares to sing aloud, sarcastically,
“May the turbulent bottom of the sea be his grave!” (Track 35).
If anyone had noticed, they would’ve had no time to respond, because instantly
the cry goes up: Otello and his vessel are safe! There’s an instant of relief, shouts are
heard from off stage, and the sailors finally arrive at the docks. First a few onlookers,
then more, then all sing out “hurrah” as the hero makes his triumphal entrance.
“Esultate!”—“Rejoice!”— cries Otello (Track 36). And so, not 30 seconds after a
single glimpse of Iago’s evil, Verdi wipes it away—for now.
Students may enjoy considering the musical craftsmanship Verdi demonstrates
here. He opens his opera with a sensational set piece, pitting the forces of nature
against Otello’s strength. He slips in a single line of text foreshadowing the tragedy
to come, and just as quickly buries the thought in general exultation. Iago merges
back into the crowd. Otello is hailed by the assembled. But as soon as Otello’s
moment of glory has passed, Iago will start down the path of insinuation that will
bring the hero down.
Track 37 is an uninterrupted recording of the scene.
16
|
MUSICAL HIGHLIGHT
Enabling Song: A Close Look at
Iago’s Drinking Song (Act I)
The drinking song has a long history in opera. Iago’s “Inaffia l’ugala,” early in Act I
of Otello, transcends that history: it’s a perfect example of the way Verdi, late in his
career, transformed familiar forms, weaving them into a continuous flow of music,
deploying them to build character relationships and advance the plot. In this case,
he also inverts the usually joyful tone of a drinking song, exposing the dark side of
intoxication.
Iago has worked out a very complicated plot to destroy Otello. First, he’s going to
get Captain Cassio drunk. (Cassio protests that he’s had enough, but Iago presses
him to toast the newly wed Otello and Desdemona.) Iago knows that if he gets
drunk enough, Cassio will misbehave, then Otello will punish him. Next, with a bit
of encouragement from Iago, Cassio will turn to his old friend Desdemona for help.
Desdemona will plead the captain’s case with Otello. This, in turn, will ignite Otello’s
jealous streak—and begin his downfall.
Iago plans to trick Cassio into fighting with another nobleman, Roderigo. It’s
a tactical manipulation within his larger strategy: Iago knows that Roderigo lusts
after Desdemona, so, as if practicing for his mind game with Otello, he convinces
Roderigo that Cassio does, too. His treachery seeps into Verdi’s instrumental introduction. It’s written in a lively, seemingly cheerful tempo, but with a distinctly dark
undertone, hinting at trouble to come (Track 38).
In Track 39, the song proper begins. Iago encourages Cassio to drink. Cassio
replies in the traditional vein, praising the power of wine. His mission underway, Iago
turns to the crowd in Track 40, encouraging all to “beva con me!”—“drink with me!”
Take particular note of the descending, chromatic line on the word “beva” toward
the end of this track: it will turn sinister before too long. But first, in Track 41, Iago
takes Roderigo aside, and they gloat that Cassio’s already getting drunk.
In the second stanza, Track 42, Iago hails not drink alone, but inebriation. Cassio
admits he’s all but there. When the chorus returns in Track 43, Iago adds more bite
to that precipitous “Beva!,” then he and Roderigo once more chortle over Cassio’s
decline (Track 44).
17
By Track 45, the third stanza, Cassio has lost control, replying before Iago has
even finished his line. “I'm not afraid of the truth,” Cassio declares—and repeats
and repeats—to the tune of Iago’s “beva con me!” straight through the chorus in
Track 46.
By now Cassio has become a laughing-stock. The crowd roars in Track 47 as
he stumbles forward, praising the wine. Iago pushes Roderigo to provoke a fight,
insinuating that this will help him win Desdemona. Cassio stammers on. Iago stirs up
the crowd, and in Track 48, his “Bevi” again winds boastfully downward.
At the close of “Inaffia l’ugola,” Verdi takes another step away from musical tradition: the song isn’t tied up with a neat ending. Instead, in Track 49, what sounds like
an orchestral finish leads right into the next scene—the incident’s consequence, as
Montano comes to remind the inebriated Cassio that he should be on duty. Verdi
has turned a simple drinking song into a taut psychological drama, while seamlessly
spinning the entire episode into the greater narrative arc of the opera.
Track 50 is an uninterrupted recording of “Inaffia l’ugola!”
18
|
MUSICAL HIGHLIGHT
A Man of Action, Not of Words: A Close Look at
Otello’s Approach in Desdemona’s Chambers (Act IV)
In the fourth act, after finishing her prayers (see Tracks 20–25 in the Classroom
Activity), Desdemona goes to bed. At that moment, according to Boito’s stage
directions, “Otello enters by a secret door.” Three minutes of wordless music follow,
with Otello moving silently toward Desdemona’s bedside. In these few measures,
Verdi communicates all the jealousy, love, and conflict in his hero’s heart.
Otello enters to the deep, soft, stealthy sound of the basses (Track 51). As he
moves toward Desdemona, in Track 52, the melody rises, turning lyrical for a few
moments. Is love struggling to break through Otello’s murderous resolve? Then it
falls back to something like regret. With Track 53, a jumpy countertheme is heard,
closing with the soft, decisive thump of a bass drum—the music of jealousy. The two
themes alternate, love/regret and jealousy, through Track 54.
Another stage direction tells us that Otello, with a “gesture of fury,” moves
towards the bed. Track 55 depicts both impulse and advance, culminating in a
decisive, loud orchestral full stop.
FUN FACT: e night
Otello premiered, Verdi
was called to the stage 20
times to take bows.
Now Otello stands at his wife’s bedside, to the music of Track 56, overcome by
passion. A single English horn sings out over a string tremolo as he looks down upon
her. Then he kisses her three times. Track 57 paints this moment with the swelling of
the “kiss theme” previously heard in the love duet in Act I.
The kisses awaken Desdemona. “Who’s there?” she asks, with the music falling
chillingly silent. “Otello?” she says (Track 58). He responds with a curt, peremptory
“Yes.”
From here on, the scene will turn to quickfire conversation. Desdemona tries
to ward off Otello’s accusations. He refuses to budge. But students might like to
consider why Verdi and Boito felt Otello should enter Desdemona’s room without
words. What does this say about his character, his self-image, his insistence on
action? If Boito had written words for Otello’s approach (as Shakespeare did, in
soliloquy), what might Otello have said? If he hadn’t kept his feelings locked up, do
they think he would still be able to murder Desdemona?
Track 59 is an uninterrupted recording of Otello’s entrance.
Texts are not provided for this activity, as it is purely instrumental.
19