Why does Verdi’s Otello begin in Cyprus rather than Venice?

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Otello Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi was known for operas such as *Rigoletto* (1851).

Verdi’s Otello begins in Cyprus rather than Venice because his librettist, Arrigo Boito, made a deliberate artistic choice to simplify the plot and focus the narrative.1

By setting the entire opera in Cyprus, Boito eliminated the opening scenes found in William Shakespeare’s original play, such as the confrontation between Othello and Desdemona’s father in the Doges’ Palace in Venice. This structural change allowed the opera to move directly into the action on the island and provided the space to transform the couple's initial wooing into an extended love duet, which stands as one of the most celebrated moments in the operatic canon.1