'Cosi Fan Tutte' is not just one of Mozart's finest operas (definitely in the top 4), but also one of my favourites full-stop. It is a lot of fun as well as being psychologically complex and some of Mozart's most beautiful ever music is to be found in the trio "Soave Sia Il Vento", Fiordiligi's "Per Pieta", Ferrando's "Un Aura Amorosa", the Act 1 finale and the Guglielmo-Dorabella duet "Il Core Vi Dono".
Many of the productions available on DVD are good to outstanding, and the Met production from 2014 as part of their Live in HD series was one of the triumphs of that respective season. This 2016 'Cosi Fan Tutte' from Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (who have gone some fantastic gems over the years but have been hit and miss in recent years) has some excellent things and moments but felt uneven and unfocused. It's certainly not among the worst of the Royal Opera House Live Cinema transmissions, haven't seen them all but a production has to be really bad to be worse than 2015's 'Guillaume Tell' which was a dream musically but a nightmare everywhere else.
The production's best asset is the performances. A standout is Daniel Behle's honey-toned and dramatically immensely appealing Ferrando, particularly in a heart-melting rendition of "Un Aura Amorosa". Angela Brower's Dorabella is witty and beautifully lyrical. She and Corinne Winters blend and work splendidly. Although under-powered in the lower parts of "Come Scoglio", Winters's Fiordiligi has plenty of fire and pathos and there is warmth and agility to her singing.
Alessio Arduini is a virile and heartily voiced Guglielmo, particularly in the lively "Donna Meie" and gentler "Il Core Vi Dono", again beautiful blending with Brower. The Despina of Sabina Puertolas is suitably confident and spirited, if perhaps too spiteful for a scheming character, her two arias particularly "In Umini Soldati" are sung with a bright energy. Johannes Martin Kränzle is amusing and like a puppeteer of the action, softening his rich voice compared to the heavier roles he's taken on, but occasionally he is a bit too wicked.
Orchestra capture the light energy and darker elements of Mozart's amazing score very well, the lyricism and beautiful tone are also there. The costumes for modern dress are tasteful and while the stagy sets take some getting used to they are suitably colourful. Jan Philipp Gloger's stage direction does make more sense as the production progresses and his aim becomes clearer, he is most successful in giving the human emotions realism and honesty and allowing the chemistry between the principals to shine. The comedy has many moments where it really sparkles, the more dramatic moments have poignant pathos and there is some charm.
Gloger's direction doesn't completely work though. Too many touches work against the very specific libretto and some of the drama is confusing and lacks clarity within his setting. For some of the production, what he was trying to do was not clear and will have some people scratching their heads. Another thing that is botched is that there is no sense of jeopardy when the true identities are revealed. The play-within-a-play connection is not cohesive at all. There could have been more consistent lightness and charm, Gloger seemed to emphasise the darker elements and boundary blurring and the drama became somewhat too heavy.
Did have reservations about Semyon Bychkov's conducting. It's all precise, correct and competent, but his experience in heavier repertoire shows with some rather leaden tempo choices, more vivacity was needed in a score that fizzes when energetic but the recitatives especially really plodded, a problem because the recitatives are incredibly important in Mozart.
Overall, uneven and unfocused but with a lot of excellent things. 6/10 Bethany Cox
Many of the productions available on DVD are good to outstanding, and the Met production from 2014 as part of their Live in HD series was one of the triumphs of that respective season. This 2016 'Cosi Fan Tutte' from Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (who have gone some fantastic gems over the years but have been hit and miss in recent years) has some excellent things and moments but felt uneven and unfocused. It's certainly not among the worst of the Royal Opera House Live Cinema transmissions, haven't seen them all but a production has to be really bad to be worse than 2015's 'Guillaume Tell' which was a dream musically but a nightmare everywhere else.
The production's best asset is the performances. A standout is Daniel Behle's honey-toned and dramatically immensely appealing Ferrando, particularly in a heart-melting rendition of "Un Aura Amorosa". Angela Brower's Dorabella is witty and beautifully lyrical. She and Corinne Winters blend and work splendidly. Although under-powered in the lower parts of "Come Scoglio", Winters's Fiordiligi has plenty of fire and pathos and there is warmth and agility to her singing.
Alessio Arduini is a virile and heartily voiced Guglielmo, particularly in the lively "Donna Meie" and gentler "Il Core Vi Dono", again beautiful blending with Brower. The Despina of Sabina Puertolas is suitably confident and spirited, if perhaps too spiteful for a scheming character, her two arias particularly "In Umini Soldati" are sung with a bright energy. Johannes Martin Kränzle is amusing and like a puppeteer of the action, softening his rich voice compared to the heavier roles he's taken on, but occasionally he is a bit too wicked.
Orchestra capture the light energy and darker elements of Mozart's amazing score very well, the lyricism and beautiful tone are also there. The costumes for modern dress are tasteful and while the stagy sets take some getting used to they are suitably colourful. Jan Philipp Gloger's stage direction does make more sense as the production progresses and his aim becomes clearer, he is most successful in giving the human emotions realism and honesty and allowing the chemistry between the principals to shine. The comedy has many moments where it really sparkles, the more dramatic moments have poignant pathos and there is some charm.
Gloger's direction doesn't completely work though. Too many touches work against the very specific libretto and some of the drama is confusing and lacks clarity within his setting. For some of the production, what he was trying to do was not clear and will have some people scratching their heads. Another thing that is botched is that there is no sense of jeopardy when the true identities are revealed. The play-within-a-play connection is not cohesive at all. There could have been more consistent lightness and charm, Gloger seemed to emphasise the darker elements and boundary blurring and the drama became somewhat too heavy.
Did have reservations about Semyon Bychkov's conducting. It's all precise, correct and competent, but his experience in heavier repertoire shows with some rather leaden tempo choices, more vivacity was needed in a score that fizzes when energetic but the recitatives especially really plodded, a problem because the recitatives are incredibly important in Mozart.
Overall, uneven and unfocused but with a lot of excellent things. 6/10 Bethany Cox
