Re-imaging Othello As A Multi-Cultural, Intimate Opera

Shakespeare's Othello is a familiar story of love, power, jealousy, and manipulation, but you've never heard it like this before. A new production melds three languages — English, Italian, and Turkish — for a musical retelling of the familiar tragedy, tapping into Ottoman folklore. It's called "Othello in the Seraglio: The Tragedy of Sümbül the Black Eunuch."

"Othello in the Seraglio" has three upcoming performances in Massachusetts: Tuesday at the New England Conservatory, Wednesday at Harvard University's Holden Chapel, and Thursday at Smith College in Northampton, Mass.

Mehmet Ali Sanlikol, composer and musician.

Robert Labaree, chair of the music history department at the New England Conservatory.