Otello premiered at Opera House

TIRANA, Nov. 18 – Otello, a lyric tragic drama in four acts composed by Giuseppe Verdi, was premiered on Wednesday evening at the Opera House in Tirana as an Italian-Albanian cooperation staged ahead of Italy’s 150th anniversary of unification in 2011.
The opera will continue being performed in the evenings of November 19, 21 and 23 at the National Theatre of Opera and Ballet. Italian tenor Leonardo Gramegna is performing along with some of the most prominent soloists of the Albanian Opera House including Ylber Gjini, Manjola Konjari, Marjana Leka and Irini Nikolla.
The opera is directed by Albania’s Nikolin Gurakuqi while the symphonic orchestra conducted Alessandro D’Agostini.
The famous opera with libretto by A. Boito after William Shakespeare, was premiered at La Scala, Milan, February 5, 1887. The setting is in a seaport on the island of Cyprus, end of 15th century.
Celebrations to mark Italy’s 150th anniversary of unification in 2011 are also being held in Albania through several historical and cultural events organized by the Italian Institute of Culture in Tirana.
Earlier this year, dozens of activities were held in Albania for more than three months in the frame of “Italy, Albania, Two Peoples, One Sea, One Friendship” season of cultural events. The more than 80 events held from March to June included 25 concerts, 5 film festivals, 10 fairs, 28 conferences, 5 sports events, 7 initiatives on the economic and commercial sector, 6 training activities and 5 contests.
The events were aimed at promoting Italian culture in Albania considering the successful cooperation during the past 20 years which have made Italy, where more than 400,000 Albanian immigrants, the country’s top trade partner.