Otello with Jerrell Jackson

Is Iago one of opera’s greatest villains? Or just someone who listened to Steely Dan’s “Dirty Work” one too many times and decided to make it everyone’s problem. Bassist, lecturer, and writer Jerrell Jackson joins us to discuss Verdi’s penultimate opera, in which a storm wrecks Cyprus for five minutes and male insecurity wrecks everything else for the next three hours.

Additional topics include: Classical Music Twitter, the visual spectrum of Plácido Domingo’s blackface Otellos, the New York Times comments section, and the ’90s teen Shakespeare renaissance.

Follow Jerrell on Instagram at @datbassjawn and on Twitter at @datbassjawn.

Full episode notes, including a synopsis of Otello, recommended recordings, and a reading list, at Decanonized.com.

Follow Decanonized on Instagram at @decanonized.