The winner of the Campoamor Prize as best 2015 production, this Otello – a Macerata Opera Festival and Festival Castell de Peralada coproduction – was entrusted to a star of the current direction firmament, the Spanish director and set designer Paco Azorín, and conducted by Riccardo Frizza. Frizza gives back to this Verdi score all of its beauty, its refined orchestral and harmonic writing, at the same time leading with confidence the singers: the solid Othello of the American tenor Stuart Neill, an imposing figure and a very interesting voice, rich in nuances; the lyrical Desdemona of Jessica Nuccio, debuting in this role; and the excellent Jago of Roberto Frontali, a fine singer and a charismatic actor. Azorín’s direction cleverly employs the length and breadth of the great stage of the Arena Sferisterio, also thanks to an inspiring use of lighting and projections.