Arrigo Boito, librettist
Tim Ribič, assistant director
Cleopatra Purice, choreographer
Wolfgang von Zoubek, set, costume and lighting designer 
Matic Kašnik, assistant set designer 
Simona Toš, Suzana Rengeo, assistant costume designers
SNG Maribor Symphony Orchestra
SNG Maribor Opera Choir
Zsuzsa Budavari Novak, chorus master

Cast: 
Otello, the Moor General: TBA 
Desdemona, his wife: Sabina Cvilak, Andreja Zakonjšek Krt 
Iago, Otello’s ensign:  Luka Brajnik  
Emilia, Iago’s wife and Desdemona’s servant: Irena Petkova  
Cassio, Otello’s captain: Bože Jurić Pešić  
Roderigo, Venetian nobleman: Žiga Lakner  
Lodovico, Venetian Republic’s ambassador: Luka Ortar
Montano, former governor of Cyprus: Sebastijan Čelofiga  
Messenger: Tomaž Planinc  
Ballet Ensemble: Vadim Kurgajev, Vasilij Kuzkin, Mircea Golescu, Alexandru Pilca 

This February, after an absence of almost three decades, Verdi’s operatic retelling of the tragedy of the Moor of Venice, returned to the stage of the Opera and Ballet of the Slovene National Theatre in Maribor, in a production directed by acclaimed Swiss director Guy Montavon, who is also the general secretary of the European Theatre Directors Association. His directorial vision throws an entirely new light on the infamous Shakespearean tragedy, full of love intrigues, jealousy, betrayal and murder, reworked in the mid-nineteenth century by the librettist Arrigo Boito, a skilled adapter of works from the European canon. One of his final operatic creations, Otello bears Verdi’s unmistakable signature, recognisable in the characteristic fullness of the orchestra’s sound and the virtuosity of the singers. At the same time, however, some elements of the work nod to the compositional techniques of Richard Wagner, who was regarded as one of his artistic rivals. The Maribor Opera has entrusted the score to the Finnish conductor, pianist and composer Ville Matvejeff, whom Slovene audiences may already have encountered as the guest conductor of the RTV Slovenia Symphony Orchestra, while in the wider region he is known above all as the popular principal conductor and music adviser of the Ivan Zajc Croatian National Theatre in Rijeka.