Othello

...has a remarkably Caucasian physiognomy for a Moor, in spite of his black skin. And he sings well. At least, according to Verdi's opera version of the story.

There seems to be some truth in the myth of the German Bildungsideal and the notion that the government should foster said ideal. Yesterday evening, I went to a staging of Verdi's Otello in the Nationaltheater Mannheim. Going to operas is not something I used to do very often until now, given that they are normally quite expensive. In this case, however, I was happily surprised to find that, with student discount and for the back row, the tickets were a mere 5,50 euros apiece. It sounds a bit ridiculous to me... a live opera cheaper than a film in a movie theatre? Not that I'm complaining, though; a short look at the performance agenda makes it even very likely that I'll come back there :).
Now, I must renounce my Dutchness a bit and say that the most important thing was of course the opera, which I liked: orchestral and choral parts were overwhelming, as they should be with Verdi, and of course the soloists' singing was astounding; sometimes even a bit too astounding for my taste.
Interestingly, the programme booklet offered the libretto only in German. I suppose this means that

1. either, the German opera audience is assumed not to understand Italian anyway, which would make including the original libretto a futile exercise
   
2. or, perhaps more likely, the organisation assumes the audience can't figure out the singing even with libretto, and hence just offers a version that is easier to understand
   

But, in conclusion: long live Germany, the land of art and culture :).