Othello in the Seraglio, a uniquely powerful “coffeehouse opera,” tells an age-old story of passionate love and murderous jealousy, of a Black slave at the 17th century Ottoman Court who rises to power and riches, only to come to a tragic end. The stunning score, by Boston composer and Grammy nominee Mehmet Ali Sanlikol, weaves together Italian Baroque and Turkish sources with his own newly-composed music into a tapestry of uncanny beauty – performed on European period instruments and traditional Turkish instruments by an ensemble of 12 instrumentalists, singers and a dramatic storyteller. You have never heard anything like this before – because nothing like it has existed until now.
For more about the project, click here.
Post-show talk with the cast and creators both evenings.
Photos & Videos
Credits
CAST
Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol, music director
Brian Fairley, director.
Max Sklar, storyteller
Vocalists singing in Italian in Baroque style
Camila Parias, soprano
Michael Barrett, baritone
Vocalists singing in Turkish in various Turkish styles
Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol, tenor
Burcu Güleç, alto
Specialists on 16th-17th century European instruments
Michael Barrett, lute, recorders
Carol Lewis, gamba
Steven Lundahl, sackbut, trumpet, recorders
Dan Stilman, sackbut, trumpet, dulcian
Specialists on Turkish instruments
Beth Bahia Cohen, kemane (spike fiddle), violin, çiftetelli (octave violin)
Burcu Güleç, kaşık (wooden spoons), parmak zili (finger cymbals), castanets
Robert Labaree, çeng (Ottoman harp), voice
George Lernis and Bertram Lehmann, percussion: nekkare (small kettledrums), davul (bass drum), darbuka (hour glass shaped drum), bendir (frame drum), daire (frame drum with bells, gongs, cymbals, talking drum, bombo and kös (large kettledrums)
Mehmet Ali Sanlıkol, ud (short-necked lute), ney (cane flute), zurna (double reed pipe)