Mozart: Cosi Fan Tutte
1 x 193'
Digital Classis Distribution
A regular guest at the Zurich Opera, mezzo soprano Cecilia Bartoli made her début as Fiordiligi there in a new production of Così fan tutte directed by Jürgen Flimm, and conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt. Already acclaimed as a revelatory interpreter of a fistful of Mozart roles, her earthy, exuberant characterisation and voluptuous dark Italian beauty were a perfect foil to the blonde, winsome and capricious Dorabella of Liliana Nikiteanu.
With its consummate symmetry of plot and musical construction, Così fan tutte is held to be the most perfect ensemble opera ever written and the Zurich cast, completed by Oliver Widmer as Guilelmo, Roberto Sacca as Ferrando, Carlos Chausson as Don Alfonso and Agnes Baltsa as Despina, brought together six singers who played their roles as part of something greater than themselves. The result is enthralling from start to finish, with Harnoncourt unleashing the astonishing virtuosity of Mozart’s score.
Flimm’s production plays on the distinctly modern spirit of ironic self-awareness that informs the opera, with Despina a knowing and experienced woman and Don Alfonso a deeply cynical mentor. As this Così comes to its end, snow falls on the re-united lovers who have failed the ‘test of faith’. The dramatic truth of their performances has been such that it leaves you shivering about what lies ahead.
