Cecilia Bartoli and John Osborn star in Rossini's Otello, a rarely performed opera that has been brought to new life by directors Moshe Leiser and Patrice Caurier. First presented in Naples in 1816, Rossini's Otello is a gripping musical drama, with a finale no less tragic and disturbing than in Shakespeare's original play. 'Ms Bartoli radiates a kind of charismatic diligence. It is obvious that she has plotted out every musical and dramatic moment: every subtle diminuendo, every gesture.' New York Times

Rossini’s unusual scoring of the drama calls for three tenor supporting roles – here sung to universal acclaim by long-standing Bartoli collaborators John Osborn and Javier Camarena and newcomer Edgardo Rocha. Bartoli’s dramatic command and vocal presence dominate the stage and reveal her artistry to be entering a rich new stage of development.

Dedicated by Donizetti to Rubini (the part of the protagonist was written expressly for the famous tenor), Gianni di Parigi is a delightful opera, rich in brilliant music and often very inspired, alternating pages of high virtuoso belcanto singing to others of gentler melodic effusion, already truly romantic, and reaching to the highest levels of Donizetti's comic spirit in the long articulated scene of the two buffi, justifiably the best known piece of the opera.