Genoa's Teatro Carlo Felice defied dire times with a glaring production of Giuseppe Verdi's Otello from Valencia's Palau de les Arts directed by Davide Livermore, who also designed the sets and the costumes in collaboration with Giò Forma and Marianna Fracasso.

The opera had not been shown in Genoa since 1968, and its comeback attracted a large and enthusiastic audience. The set was a gray reclining amphitheater with a liftable central platform, on which singers were transported up and down during scenes, most of the time with no specific motivation (but with clearly audible noise from the machinery when the platform was moving downward).

In a fantasy atmosphere, the singers wore costumes which reminded of the Lord of the Rings saga, with Cassio sporting an elf hairstyle. A screen on the background showed the stormy, dark sea in the first act. The Venetians watch the fight at sea dancing as in a disco. Then the masts of the ship appear, a projection moving from the open center of the stage, and Otello lands on the stage brought down on another small platform moving from above, and sang "Esultate!" floating over the stage.

The dim stage is sometimes lit up by a red neon light around the amphitheater's circles. Otello and Desdemona spend their first night floating on the platform, and likewise Dedemona sings her sad aria in the fourth act and will later be slain by her jealous husband.

In spite of all its unconventional features, the production turned out to be on the whole quite compelling, and the audience seemed to appreciate it. This was of course largely on account of the vocal cast, which featured three very good singers in the main roles.

At the last performance, it was announced that Gregory Kunde, who sang the title role, would sing in spite of poor health conditions. Indeed, the singer tried to save some of his vocal energy during the performance, and only when he reached the final concertato in the third act was he able to give a hundred percent of his potential, with an outstanding result. Then he managed to depict a moving dying Otello in the last scene, even though he was not able to give a last kiss to Dedemona, but was again lifted away immediately.

Carlos Alvarez was an imposing Iago, fully idiomatic, and very compelling in his wickedness, not only in his aria "Credo in un dio crudel" but especially when speaking with Otello.

Maria Agresta was a suffering Desdemona, with a visible - and audible - premonition of misfortune already from her first appearance.

Manuel Pierattelli as Cassio, in spite of his weird look, also gave a good contribution as did the chorus, instructed by Pablo Assante.

Less compelling notes came from the pit. The young Maestro Andrea Battistoni did his best to combine the orchestral music with the voices, which however were sometimes covered, but his tempi sounded at times too slow, without the necessary brio.

With successful performances all round there were cheers and applause for everyone.