It is a grand night at the Metropolitan Opera. Patrons are dressed in fabulous clothing, the lobby is packed with people eager to get into the theater, and the Metropolitan Orchestra is warming up for a long night of playing. People of all ages are here tonight at the opera. I sat next to a dapperly dressed old couple on one side and an aspiring young composer on the other. This is the scenery of a Saturday night performance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s opera Cosi fan tutte on September 28th. I am sure that those of you reading this review may wonder if an opera is entertaining whatsoever. A common view among younger audiences is that opera is aging in style, overly dramatic, and a genre of music adored by very old people. From the perspective of a young adult just like the rest of you, I assure you that Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte is far from boring; it is actually quite a joy to watch.
The plot of Cosi fan tutte is very entertaining despite being in existence for over two hundred years. The audience first sees a discussion between Ferrando, Gugliemo, and Don Alfonso, played by Matthew Polenzani, Rodion Pogossov, and Maurizio Muraro respectively. Gugliemo and Ferrando believe that their fiancés Dorabella and Firodiligi (Isabel Lenard and Susanna Phillips) are pure in heart and would never betray them. Don Alfonso, being much older and wiser than the men, believes that he can prove to them how all women, no matter how pure, are naturally unfaithful. The men put a wager on the issue and Don Alfonso uses Ferrando and Gugliemo in his scheme to catch the women being unfaithful. Don Alfonso tricks Dorabella and Firodiligi into thinking that Ferrando and Gugliemo have left for war. In disguise, he introduces the women to two “Albanian” men (Ferrando and Gugliemo) who wish to court them. The women, as Ferrando and Gugliemo hoped, initially deny them of their presence because of their love to their fiancés. Don Alfonso then seeks help from Despina (Danielle de Neise), Dorabella and Fiordeiligi’s maid, to assist him in making the women fall in love with the two “Albanians”. This is the foundation of a rather humorous and enchanting work composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte.
In terms of the score, the Metropolitan Orchestra does a fabulous job in performing this classic opera. James Levine conducts a Metropolitan Orchestra that never misses a note and is flawless. The orchestra excels at painting the emotions and actions of the performers on stage. The orchestra makes its presence known when Dorabella and Fiordiligi yell at the disguised Ferrando and Gugliemo in rage. Along with this emotional and engaging orchestration, the orchestra achieves a sense of balance with the performers. Personally, my favorite instance of this was in Fiordiligi’s aria, Per pienta ben mio, in the opera’s second act. The dazzling solos of the horns do not steal the show away from the marvelous singing by Susanna Phillips. The horn and the rest of the orchestra are just as important as Phillips in conveying the senses of grace and sincerity of Fiordiligi’s character to the audience. I originally anticipated that the music of Cosi fan tutte would be dull and repetitive like some other Mozart works, but I would say that I was pleasantly surprised by the dynamics and character of this score.
The performers are not just great opera singers: they are convincing actors as well. Maurizio Muraro, a bass-baritone, brings life to the character of Don Alfonso. In comparison to Ferrando and Gugliemo, Muraro’s Don Alfonso is clever, looks at life more realistically, and does not act through emotion like the rest of the cast. His charming bass-baritone voice is the most distinguishable of the cast and its warm timbre is pleasant to listen to. Murraro’s ability to paint the music with strokes of his technique is evident throughout the opera. My favorite instance was a scene where he sings of his voice sticking to his throat. As he sings, each note is pried out of his throat as if the music is actually sticking! Like Don Alfonso, Danielle de Neise’s Despina gazes upon the four lovers with humor because of their unrealistic views of love. Despina is the opera’s greatest comedian and delivers some of Cosi fa tutte’s best jokes. Towards the end of the opera, Neise makes Despina sound like a little old man as she is in disguise. Danielle de Neise and Maurizio Muraro work well together as their character’s struggle to get the two women to “cheat” on their fiancés.
Isabel Leonard and Susanna Phillips play more traditional roles as Dorabella and Fiordiligi, two typical noblewomen in 18th Century Naples. Their characters are extremely stubborn about their love to Ferrando and Gugliemo. They can be annoying about their repetitive vows of love to their fiancés, but I think that they were written like this intentionally for a humorous affect. One is supposed to laugh at the mentality of these women and await for the moment their psyche cracks and they cave into cheating on their fiancés. Leonard and Phillips prove to be fantastic sopranos through their arias and ability to belt. The women are the center of Don Alfonso’s plot, so their role is massive. In the end, they deliver a stunning performance.
The only characters I felt fell short where Ferrando and Gugliemo. Rodion Pogossov and Matthew Polenzani do what they can to make the characters as intriguing as possible; it does not help to make the characters seem less shallow. They lack the depth of Dorabella and Fiordiligi and fall into common male stereotypes: they are stubborn as mules; the men aim to look better than each other and Don Alfonso; and they see nothing wrong with toying with the women. Don Alfonso acts similarly as the men, but he at least acts with reason while the men behave through passion. I cannot judge their singing as much as the others because they were not as involved the singing portion of the opera. From what I heard in duets and in larger scenes, the men do sing well. They contrast from the brazen voice of Murrario and the angelic voices of the three sopranos.
The unsung heroes of any production, the lighting, set, and costume designer, shine in Cosi fan tutte. Set and costume designer Michael Yeargan created incredibly unique sets for this production. The set of the opera varies from a pleasant beach, moving ships, a multilevel house, and even a pastoral garden. The sets are incredibly detailed and give off an atmosphere that has depth. Dorabella and Fiordiligi, for example, look out at the ship that moves before their very eyes from a beach. I thought that this depth with the set made this production unique from any previous production of Cosi fan tutte. The lighting, designed by Duane Schuler, adds to the affect the set creates towards the audience. The lighting is the finishing piece that immerses the viewer into the world of Don Alfonso and company. The costume design is great as well. One of the reasons why I liked Don Alfonso so much was because of the way he dressed. When the opera begins, the old man is dressed in a morning suit fit with a hat and cane. He had at least three different costumes throughout the opera and each one stuck to me. It made me think of how I would want to look like if I was a wealthy old man! The dresses for Dorabella and Fiordiligi are glamorous and Ferrando and Gugliemo boast elegant robes in their disguises.
The Metropolitan Opera’s rendition of Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte is excellent. Despite its age, the opera is a blast to watch. The strong performances by the orchestra and the performers are impeccable and the technical aspects of the opera make it unique. Some people may wonder about the dated themes in Cosi fan tutte concerning the role of women. The title, when translated, means “All Women Act Like That”. If one can accept the opera as a piece of art and ignore its social aspects, Cosi fan tutte is an entertaining opera that I recommend all to watch.
