Opera: Verdi's Otello Paphos Castle, Cyprus

It would be difficult to beat the Tosca televised two years ago in its original Roman settings (and at approximately the correct times of day), but the Othello Festival Cyprus has had a gallant stab with its open-air staging of Verdi's Otello in front of the medieval castle in Paphos harbour. It's not the "original" place where Othello landed, of course, which is in the Turkish-occupied town of Famagusta, but as far as atmosphere is concerned, it's near enough.

Cyprus is now going all out to up its cultural image and, with this idea, it certainly picked a winner. Set designer Rinaldo Olivieri used Paphos castle as a backdrop and stuck on a flight of stairs in the same style on the right, and an additional section of castle wall on the left, plus a door and a Venetian lion on a column. The gods provided a lot more: above the castle, Venus shone down on her birthplace (just down the road from Paphos), flanked by a half moon.

Inexplicably, the sheltered moated area to the right of the stage was unused. Surely a ship could have been provided, for Othello's dramatic first entry. There was not only no ship, but director Michael Hampe moved his chorus around so aimlessly among the dry ice that one had little idea what was going on, or even where Othello's ship was, so that when he finally entered at the top of the stairs, it wasn't at all clear who was pronouncing that famous "Esultate!".

To be heard by an audience of 3,000 in the open air, the singers had to be miked up. This caused a few problems on the first night - Katia Ricciarelli as Desdemona, in particular, flooded the mind with memories of the early talkie scenes in Singin' in the Rain - but this was soon sorted out. She and Carlo Cossutta (Othello) both seemed to have a more pronounced wobble than usual, for which the sound amplification was possibly responsible. But these two stalwarts nevertheless performed well, especially Ricciarelli in her last-act scena. As Iago, Silvano Carroli, a tall, powerful figure, acted with great gusto, and as much subtlety as this kind of venue allows.

And after the curtain-calls, a firework display, with "See you in 1997" picked out. Hardly a solemn end to an evening of high art, but on a warm September night in the Mediterranean, with a festive buzz in the air, if you wanted the feel-good factor, you had it here in spades.

On balance then, a successful experiment, to be repeated next September, with Verdi's Nabucco. Offering two productions will further increase the festival's chances of establishing itself on the international circuit.