Francesco Meli is sharing his thoughts about performing a white Otello in his role debut in Verdi’s masterpiece at the Teatro La Fenice.

In an interview with Il Giornale, the Italian tenor said that his Otello would be white because the director had decided that there would be no paint to darken the tenor’s face. However, Meli said that he did not believe this was the right way to portray the character.

He said, “In fact, it is a choice that I do not agree with because Othello’s geographical origin and therefore the color of his skin have a dramaturgical value; the thesis is that the white Iago is the evil one who goes to instigate Othello leading him to commit a crime.”

While Meli noted that the new production has been developed with sensitivity and the character work that was done was in-depth, he believes that “The opera has lost the connotations of its identity, exemplifying the one that musicals and ballet still retain. When you go to see Tchaikovsky’s ‘Swan Lake’ you want to see the swans, the feathers, just as no one dreams of the ‘Phantom of the Opera’ set in the Bronx or in a rubbish dump. The paradox is that we have opened ourselves to dialogue with the public, but we are losing the public.”

The discussion around operas like “Aida” and “Otello” has been at the forefront of opera over the past years due to the use of “blackface” in the past. In 2022, the Arena di Verona was a hit with controversy for using blackface in an “Aida” production. That sparked many artists to speak out and later the Teatro Real announced that for its revival of “Aida” in 2022 it would no longer use the practice.

The Teatro La Fenice’s “Otello” opened on Nov. 23 and is set to run through Dec. 1 2024.