I think that I have found my favourite opera so far, and this is it! OK, the work itself is the usual bonkers story which is so daft as to make you wonder what exactly Mozart was on when he wrote it, but the music, staging, singing and acting were so amazing that I could forgive the ridiculous premise on which it was based.
The plot is so basic that it will take no time at all to explain, which makes sense as the action is set in a twenty-four hour period. It revolves around two friends, Ferrando and Guglielmo, who are in love with sisters, Fiordiligi and Dorabella. The men’s ‘friend’, philosopher and mysoginist, Don Alfonso, tells them that all women are the same and always available for seduction. When they disagree, he has a wager with them that the sisters will be unfaithful to them within the day. He says that he will prove it if the chaps do as he says.
Wanna bet? Anthony Gregory as Ferrando and Henry Neill as Guglielmo make a wager with Don Alfonso sung by Quirjin de Lang
The two women have a maid, Despina, who is broadly of the same persuasion as Don Alfonso and believes that women should not trust men and would be advised to play the field rather than commit. When Don Alfonso approaches her to help him with his plan, it doesn’t take much money to bribe her into helping him.
Alexandra Lowe as Fiordiligi, Gillene Butterfield as the maid Despina and Heather Lowe as Dorabella.
The plan is that the men pretend to have been conscripted into the army and must leave immediately for the front, so Ferrando says his farewells to Dorabella, and Guglielmo does the same to Fiordiligi.
So far so good, but this is where it gets really daft. The moment that the soldiers have marched away to battle, a couple of foreign guys appear, seemingly being long-lost Albanian friends of Don Alfonso. In reality they are Ferrando and Guglielmo who are wearing kaftans and one, a dodgy false moustache. Despina attempts to do some matchmaking so that she can collect her bribe but the sisters are having none of it, so the prospective seducers pretend to take arsenic to show how distraught they are. The girls are moved by this act of devotion but when Despina, disguised as a doctor, cures them, by use of two magnets, they still resist all advances.
Gillene Butterfield, as Despina disguised as a doctor, demonstrates how to counteract the effects of arsenic poisoning by the use of two magnets! Note the step on the stage.
After possibly visiting the theatre bar during the interval, the sisters admit to a certain attraction toward the new men in town and discuss which one they fancy, by consensus they each opt for, what in fact, is the other’s former lover. Guglielmo and Dorabella get straight to the end game, whereas Fiordiligi puts up a fair amount of resistance to Ferrando.
After much soul-searching on both sides, helped by the gloating of Guilielmo and Dorabella, the other couple also become an item after Fiordiligi’s resistance crumbles. Thus giving legs to Don Alfonso’s theorem that cosi fan tutte (they are all the same).
The opera reaches its climax when, during a double wedding organised by Despina, this time disguised as a lawyer, there comes the sound of the returning army. The Albanians hide and reappear as themselves, revealing that it was all a ruse. Even Despina has to admit that she was duped. Don Alfonso trousers his winnings and the four lovers are left to work out their fate.
What sets this work apart from the other farcical operas is the way in which it was executed. It was set in the time it was written so, in the beginning, the two sisters were in identical period dress and both wore blonde wigs, of which Dolly Parton would have been proud, similarly the two lovers were difficult to differentiate because of their attire and syrups. Once the men had gone off to war, and earned their place in the Guinness Book of Records for the shortest conscription in history, the women had removed their false tresses revealing that one was a blonde and the other a brunette, thus corresponding with their male (foreign) counterparts’ real colouring. As the plot moved along, the sisters’ frocks were worn over coloured petticoats and material was draped to colour co-ordinate with their male lover’s clothing.
Colour co-ordinated couples. left to right; Henry Neill as Guglielmo, Heather Lowe as Dorabello, Gillene Butterfield as Despina but disguised as the lawyer, Alexandra Lowe as Fiordiligi and Anthony Gregory as Ferrando.
The set, by Tobias Hoheisel, who also designed the costumes, was kept very simple, being a room on two levels, causing a near miss accident when Alexandra Lowe as Fiordiligi, misjudged where the step was whilst moving across the stage, almost coming a cropper as her foot unexpectedly dropped a few inches further than she was expecting. The split level enabled the right-hand wall to slide toward the left and make the room smaller when the action demanded. The two sets of doors at the back slid open like lifts which was a bit incongruous but that was really nitpicking. The start and finish also utilised the ends of the walls as wooden backdrops. The Lighting Designer was David Finn.
Another feature which enhanced my enjoyment of the production, directed by Tim Albery, was the dialogue. It had been translated into English but probably not literally, as many of the lines rhymed, some of them very cleverly in a Cole porter kind of way, and there were also some phrases which I doubt were conventional 18th Century German. This meant that the comedic element was more relevant to a 2024 English audience. Although the diction of the singers was superb, it was good to have the libretto on display screens as, on some occasions, two singers would be delivering different lines at the same time.
The wonderful Orchestra of Opera North was conducted by Clemens Schuldt and Anthony Kraus was the Chorus Master.
Finally, I come to the performers. Before I go into detail I would like to point out that there were only six cast members and the piece lasted three hours, including a twenty minute interval. Their stamina could only be marvelled at. Don Alfonso was sung by one of Opera North’s regular guests, Quirijn de Lang, who always manages to inject his personality into the roles which give him scope to do so, and this was no exception. The same applied to Gillene Butterfield, who, as Despina, added an enthusiasm, not only into the core role, but also a sense of mischief into the two disguised characters of the doctor and lawyer.
Anthony Gregory as Ferrando and Henry Neill, Gugliemo, had a great chemistry, especially when playing the foreigners, larking about with the false facial hair and exotic clothes. Their voices were also crystal clear as well as being expressive.
Henry Neill as Guglielmo, resplendent in false moustache, Quirijn de Lang as Don Alfonso and Anthony Gregory as Ferrando in their Albanian personas.
The two female leads managed to confuse me on a couple of levels in that their characters, sisters Dorabella and Fiordiligi, were sung by Heather Lowe and Alexandra Lowe, who, despite sharing a surname are no relation to each other! Again, their acting matched the brilliance of their singing bringing the whole production to life.
In a tight-knit small superbly performed ensemble piece like this, I would normally not single anyone out, but it must be said that Alexandra Lowe, making her Opera North debut, had the theatre in rapturous applause after her lengthy aria, Come scoglio – Like a rock. Amazing.
The whole score is very accessible and tuneful with even the odd operatic laugh, which is always a bonus, so I would highly recommend it to anyone thinking of taking advantage of Opera North’s Try it ON scheme for first time operagoers. I realise that it is a bit lengthy for a first-timer, but, for me at least, the evening flashed by. For details see https://www.operanorth.co.uk/your-visit/new-to-opera/tryiton/
Cosi fan tutte is at Leeds Grand Theatre on various dates until 23rd February after which it moves to Theatre Royal, Nottingham, Theatre Royal, Newcastle, The Lowry, Salford Quays and Hull, New Theatre. For full details please go to https://www.operanorth.co.uk/whats-on/cosi-fan-tutte/
For details of all coming productions go to https://www.operanorth.co.uk/
feature image provided by Opera North. Photographs by James Glossop
Tyke It To The Limit 