ACT I

Cyprus, near the port; a nearby inn and in the background, the castle. It is night and a storm is raging. The inhabitants of the island are looking out to the sea, anxious to see Otello’s ship arrive. Finally, the ship arrives safely and Otello greets the crowd with a shout of triumph: the storm which has spared him has completed the destruction of the Turkish fleet that he had begun. Frustrated in the love he feels for Desdemona, Roderigo is ready to drown himself, but Iago advises him to be sensible. He hates Otello for having appointed Cassio captain over him and will help Roderigo and, this way, he will have his own revenge at the same time.

As the Cypriots celebrate the victory, Iago invites Cassio to drink to Otello and Desdemona’s health, knowing that he has no head for alcohol. Prompted by Iago, Roderigo starts a fight with Cassio, already drunk, and when Montano tries to stop them, Cassio attacks him. Iago urges Roderigo to make the town rise up. Otello interrupts the fight and, when he finds out that Montano is wounded, and angry because Desdemona’s sleep has been disturbed, he demotes Cassio. He orders Iago to calm the villagers. Otello and Desdemona, left alone, remember the first days of their courtship.

ACT II

A hall in the castle with a garden in the background. Iago suggests to Cassio that he try to regain Otello’s favour by asking Desdemona to intercede for him and exults in his inborn capacity for evil. He watches as Cassio approaches Desdemona and, noting Otello’s arrival, he pretends to be concerned about Cassio’s manners, going on to suggest the possibility of a relationship between him and Desdemona. The then warns Otello to beware of jealousy, which he compares to a snake, and advises him to watch his wife. After groups of Cypriots have sung a welcome to Desdemona, she begins to plead for Cassio, but Otello interrupts her, complaining of a headache. When she tries to bind his forehead with a handkerchief, he throws it to the ground, where it is picked up by Emilia.

Desdemona begs her husband to forgive her if she has unconsciously offended him and he considers the possibility that she may have ceased to love him because of his colour and age. Iago snatches the handkerchief from Emilia, with the intention of leaving it at Cassio’s home. Otello orders Desdemona to leave and Iago continues to undermine Otello’s trust in her. Lamenting that his peace of mind has gone, Otello demands proof of Desdemona’s infidelity and then Iago claims to have heard Cassio in his sleep betraying his love for her. He also says that he has seen the handkerchief, Otello’s first love token to Desdemona, in Cassio’s hand. Otello vows vengeance and Iago undertakes to dedicate himself to this cause.

ACT III

In the great hall of the castle, a herald announces the arrival of a galley from Venice. Iago promises to induce Cassio to betray his love for Desdemona in Otello’s presence. When Desdemona tries once again to speak about Cassio, Otello asks her to tie the handkerchief around his forehead. When she is unable to do so, Otello becomes agitated and warns her that the loss of the handkerchief will bring her misfortune, accusing her of infidelity and driving her away from him, unmoved by her tears and her protestations of innocence.

His grief at this affliction, which has served to try him, turns to rage as Iago gets him to hide while he talks to Cassio, a cunningly contrived conversation partly about Desdemona and partly about the courtesan Bianca, who is madly in love with Cassio. Otello, unable to hear it all, misinterprets Cassio’s amusement, particularly when he produces the handkerchief, expressing puzzlement as to how it appeared in his home, and he and Iago laugh. As the trumpets announce the arrival of the Venetian ship, Otello decides to kill Desdemona and Iago promises to deal with Cassio. Everyone gathers to welcome the ambassador. As Otello reads the dispatches brought by Lodovico, he hears Desdemona express her sympathy for Cassio and strikes her. He announces that he has been called to Venice and that Cassio has been appointed his substitute. Lodovico tries to make peace between him and Desdemona, but he throws her to the ground. Furious at Cassio’s promotion, Iago incites Roderigo to murder him, as, this way, Otello and Desdemona would remain in Cyprus. Otello orders everyone to leave, cursing Desdemona when she tries to approach him. He then falls to the ground, in a faint, and Iago gloatingly exclaims next to his inert body: “Ecco il Leone!”.

ACT IV

As Desdemona prepares to go to bed in her room, assisted by Emilia, her heart is full of foreboding and she remembers a girl called Barbara, who died of unrequited love, singing a song about a willow. She bids Emilia good night, prays a Hail Mary and goes to bed.

Otello enters, wakes her with a kiss and tells her to pray for forgiveness for any unabsolved sins. She begs for her life, denying his accusations of infidelity with Cassio. He strangles her. Emilia brings the news that Cassio has killed Roderigo, but he is unharmed. Hearing Desdemona’s dying protestations of innocence, Emilia calls for help. She reveals the truth about the handkerchief and Montano says that Roderigo, before dying, had also revealed what he knew about the plot. Iago flees, refusing to take the blame. Lodovico takes Otello’s sword, but he draws a knife and kills himself, kissing Desdemona as he dies.