When it was revealed that our class would be attending Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutte, I have to admit that I wasn’t very excited. I’m not a fan of modern theater, nor do I enjoy listening to classical music (or really any type of music produced before the 20th century). I have learned about operas in the past, and all I knew is that they were supposed to be hours long, they were presented in another language, and that they were created centuries ago. Despite the fact that I had negative expectations from the start, I still had respect for this fine art, so I told myself that I’d give Cosi Fan Tutte a chance. I knew I couldn’t go around saying I disliked the opera unless I had experienced it for myself, so I decided to try and enjoy this performance.
On November 9th, 2010, I ended up being 10 minutes late to the 8:00 debut of Cosi Fan Tutte. Due to my late arrival, I was forced to view Act I of the opera in a screening room. Not only did I have to watch the opera on a small projector screen, but I was also not provided with translations. I, along with a few of my unlucky classmates, had a very different experience from the rest of our class. Watching an opera at 18 years old with no prior exposure to this kind of art is already strange enough. Watching it without understanding what the actors are saying? That may have just been too much for me. Without translations, I was able to figure out that Ferrando (Pavol Breslik) and Guglielmo (Nathan Gunn) were going off to war. Their wives were visibly upset, but were soon tempted by two men. Without translations, it was difficult to pay attention. I did not understand that the fiancés had made a bet on their wives cheating; humor was lost for me in Act I. There was a lot of singing, and although I could recognize how talented all of the actors were, it had no meaning since I could not understand what they were saying. After what felt like an eternity. Act 1 finally ended.
Act II was more enjoyable in some ways, but also seemed to drag on. Now that I could understand what the actors were saying, it was much easier to pay attention. Some of the lines were funny and clever; however, now that I could see what they were saying, I realized that the actors repeated the same lines over and over again. In Act I, all the singing sounded the same, so I just assumed what they could be saying. When I could see that they could sing for 10 minutes and say 4 lines, it was extremely frustrating. The ending was predictable, and I did not agree with the Cosi Fan TUtte’s meaning of “women are like that.” I understand that this opera is from a different time period, but it was still difficult to understand how women could be portrayed so naïve and unfaithful.
William Christie’s conduction of the opera was not perfect, but this was expected for a debut showing. Though not perfect, I found the music was paced well for the most part, with only minor delays every so often. During the second act I noticed how beautiful the set was; the detail of the props did not translate well onto a projector screen during the first act. There were certain points during the second act where I really believed that they were standing on a beach, or strolling through a small park. Despina (played by Danielle De Niese) stole the show; her voice was strong and her acting was superb. I enjoyed her performance immensely, though all of the actors were excellent.
Even though there were many aspects of the opera that I did not like, the experience was still better than what I had expected. Because I had to watch the majority of the play in a screening room, my experience was definitely worsened, so I think it would be unfair to judge whether or not I liked the opera. I found myself laughing at times, but the 3 hour performance dragged on, and the second act was often repetitive. This was my first time attending an opera, so the structure was completely new to me. After watching Cosi Fan Tutte, I feel that I would give opera another chance, but I still don’t think it will ever be something I’ll truly love.
I think you should try one of the 21’s century opera’s this time. Like the “Nose” or “Nixon in China”. Some opera’s are short and fun. Just make sure you get there on-time. (they too will bar you from entering late).