‘Trivial!’, ‘Immoral!’ And, worst of all, ‘Italian!’ So shrieked the 19th century critics of what they saw as the unseemly behaviour in Mozart’s perennially popular Così fan tutte. Critics have done a bit of shrieking in our own time too, though now it’s for the piece’s impossible sexism.
So why keep trotting it out? Well, it’s one of the great joys of opera, a comic masterpiece. And a rollicking good time can – with care – be had by all. And Patrick Nolan’s colourful production for Opera Queensland ticks all the boxes.
It helps to know the full title, Così fan tutte, ossia La scuola degli amanti, meaning “They all do it, or The School for Lovers”. The story revolves around two devoted, indeed besotted couples, Ferrando and Fiordiligi, and Guglielmo and Dorabella, whose happy holiday is queered by the machinations of the philosopher Don Alfonso, who (with the connivance of the women’s maid Despina) tricks the boys into betting that their beloveds would yield to temptation. Which, to a certain extent they do.
Our star-crossed lovers are played by Sky Ingram (Fiordiligi) and Nicholas Lester (Guglielmo) and Anna Dowsley (Dorabella) with Adrian Strooper (Ferrandol). Plaudits all round, with Ingram making her Australian mainstage debut in her home town, straight off the back of a Ring Cycle at the Longborough Festival Opera and Lester, another Adelaidean, making his first Australian appearance in many years.
Dowsley is sensational – what a voice, more please, while Strooper – stepping in at three days’ notice for US tenor Kyle Stegall – is an exquisite Mozartean.
On the dark side, Christopher Hillier is a particularly oily Don Alfonso, while Jessica Dean has more than a few scene-stealing moments, and shows herself a deft hand at comedy, as the embittered maid Despina.
Così is unusual for being a genuine ensemble piece, packed with showpieces for each and every voice. There are glittering accounts of some of the great numbers, especially Fiordiligi’s ‘Come Scoglio’ with its agile coloratura and enormous range, Dorabella’s ‘Smanie implacabili’ and Ferrando’s ‘Un’aura amorosa’. The ensemble pieces, too, especially the beautiful trio ‘Soave sia il vento’ and both finales, are superbly done.
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State Opera Artistic Director Dane Lam, conducting from the fortepiano in his debut at the helm of the company, blends forceful leadership with insightful accompaniment, even if some of the lighter voices are occasionally overwhelmed by the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra’s enthusiastic playing.
Così fan tutte by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Her Majesty’s Theatre
Conductor: Dane Lam
Director: Patrick Nolan
Associate Director: Laura Hansford
Set and Costume Designer: Elizabeth Gadsby
Lighting Designer: Bernie Tan-Hayes
Intimacy Coordinator: Eliza Lovell
Cast: Sky Ingram, Anna Dowsley, Nicholas Lester, Adrian Strooper, Christopher Hillier, Jessica Dean
State Opera Chorus
Adelaide Symphony Orchestra
Così fan tutte will be performed until 7 September 2024.
