Composer Giuseppe Verdi Librettist Arrigo Boito Based On the play by William Shakespeare Company San Francisco Opera Association Touring Location Los Angeles, CA Venue Shrine Auditorium Season 1939 Language Italian Creative/Crew Conductor Gaetano Merola Stage Director(s) Armando Agnini Chorus Master William Tyroler Cast Otello, the Moor Giovanni Martinelli Desdemona, his wife Elisabeth Rethberg Iago, his ensign Lawrence Tibbett Cassio, his lieutenant Ludovico Oliviero Emilia, wife of Iago Thelma Votipka Roderigo, a Venetian gentleman Paul Walti Lodovico, an ambassador Louis D'Angelo Montano, predecessor of Otello in the government of Cyprus George Cehanovsky Herald Juan Navarro Show Dates Thu, Nov 9 1939, 8pm Time and Place End of Fifteenth Century; A Seaport in Cyprus Scenes Act I -- Outside the Castle Act II -- A Hall on the Ground Floor of the Castle Act III -- The Great Hall of the Castle Act IV -- The bedroom of Desdemona