| Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus (1756-1791) | Così fan tutte | Libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte |
| Opera North | ||
| Jac van Steen | Conductor | |
| Tim Albery | Director | |
| Tobias Hoheisel | Set Designer, Costume Designer | |
| David Finn | Lighting Designer | |
| Ellie Laugharne | Soprano | Despina |
| Helen Sherman | Mezzo-soprano | Dorabella |
| Nicholas Watts | Tenor | Ferrando |
| William Dazeley | Baritone | Don Alfonso |
| Gavan Ring | Baritone | Guglielmo |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1790)
It starts with a casual bet. The wily old cynic Don Alfonso wagers that the fiancées of two young men, complacent in their romantic notions of love, won’t stay faithful for a minute if put to the test. It sounds harmless enough and, anyway, the lovers are entirely sure of themselves. But cruelty is inherent in this game of love and chance.
It’s difficult to think of an opera that contains more music of sheer beauty than Così fan tutte – or that has a libretto that is more unsettling. The plot is a work of supreme artifice, yet the opera charts the boundaries of real and feigned emotion, trust and deception, loyalty and desire, with unsparing accuracy and truthfulness.
Tim Albery, whose recent work at Opera North includes The Coronation of Poppea (2014), directs a fresh young cast in a production set firmly in the Age of Reason.
Sung in English
