Just a quick one to say that BBC 2 are broadcasting a double bill of Birmingham Opera Company this Saturday, 19 Feb. You can catch Verdi: The Director’s Cut at 3.25pm and Othello at 4.25pm – 7pm.

Verdi: The Director’s Cut – Graham Vick prepares his production of Verdi’s Aida for Bregenz Festival on the banks (and sometimes in!) Lake Constance. The film maker, Andy King Dabbs then followed Graham Vick to Birmingham to document the creation of another new Verdi production, Othello, with Birmingham Opera Company in the Argyle Works, a former factory, in Digbeth.

Othello – a broadcast of the Birmingham Opera Company production in its entirety starring Ronald Samm as Othello – the first time in a professional production in the UK the role has been sung by a black tenor. He is joined by Stephanie Corley as Desdemona and Keel Watson as Iago and the Birmingham Opera Company Orchestra & Chorus is conducted by the distinguished UK conductor Stephen Barlow.