The Bulgarian baritone Vladimir Stoyanov will appear as Iago in Robert Wilson’s new production of Giuseppe Verdi’s Otello at the Easter Festival of the Baden-Baden Festspielhaus with the Berlin Philharmonic under the baton of Zubin Mehta. In the series, whose premiere is on April 13, 2019, Stoyanov will share the stage with Stuart Skelton as the title role and Sonya Yoncheva will sing Desdemona.

Vladimir Stoyanov is one of the foremost Verdi singers of our time, and since his stage debut in 1996 he has sung all of the Italian composer’s major baritone roles at the most important opera houses and festivals in the world, including at La Scala in Milan, the Metropolitan Opera, the Paris Opera, the Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the Vienna State Opera, the Teatro Real in Madrid, the Zurich Opera House, the San Francisco Opera, the Arena di Verona and the Verdi Festival in Parma.

“I am very excited to make my return at the Festspielhaus Baden-Baden in this new production of Otello.

Iago is a role I’ve frequently sung around the world. I made my role debut at the Royal Opera of Stockholm and also sang it at theatres such as the New National Theatre in Tokyo, and most recently at the Teatro Filarmonico in Verona.

The character is: Iago is an extremely complex role. It is one of the most fascinating antagonistic figures of all time. It is the absolute incarnation of a malignity that frightens, a weaver of nefarious plots that will bring Otello and Desdemona to death. Shakespeare’s Otello is a masterpiece of human emotions and interactions between the ancestral characters of man who, together with Giuseppe Verdi’s music, make this work an absolute masterpiece.

Vocally it is also a difficult role. The range that the singer must have is very broad. It is necessary to have a lot of vocal flexibility, to know how to blend the colors of the voice, to give the right accents such as in the famous “Dream scene”. Giuseppe Verdi writes in one of his letters: “Jago must sing like a priest”. It takes a great technical control of the voice.

I am extremely happy to work again with Maestro Zubin Mehta who wanted me for this new production of Otello in Baden Baden. I had the pleasure and great honor of being his Rigoletto in Florence, in 2016, and for me it was a wonderful and unforgettable experience. Making music with a musician of this caliber is incredibly satisfying and enjoyable.

Vladimir Stoyanov was born in Pernik (Bulgaria) and studied singing at the Music Academy of Sofia, in Rome with Nicola Ghiuselev as well as at the Academy of La Scala in Milan with Magda Olivero. Following his studies, he was in the ensemble of the Plovdiv Opera in Bulgaria and made his debut in 1998 as the title part of Verdi’s Macbeth at the Teatro San Carlo in Naples.

After Otello in Baden-Baden, Vladimir Stoyanov will sing a variety of other Verdi roles this year, which include Rigoletto at the Palau de les Arts in Valencia and the Bregenz Festival, Francesco Foscari in I due Foscari at the Verdi Festival in Parma and as Giorgio Germont in La traviata at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice.

Information about Otello at the Baden-Baden Festival:

Conductor: Zubin Mehta, Director: Robert Wilson

Otello: Stuart Skelton; Desdemona: Sonya Yoncheva; Iago: Vladimir Stoyanov; Cassio: Francesco Demuro; Emilia: Anna Malavasi; Roderigo: Gregory Bonfatti; Lodovico: Federico Sacchi; Montano: Giovanni Furlanetto; Araldo: Mathis Tönges

Performances on April 13, 16, 19, 22, 2019