A scene from Mozart's "Così fan tutte."
Photo: Marty
Sohl/Metropolitan Opera
Reviewed by James Karas
Hot on the heels
of Atom Egoyan’s production of Cosi fan Tutte for the Canadian
Opera Company, Toronto audiences could see Mozart’s opera telecast Live in HD
from the Met and compare notes.
Egoyan set the
opera in a school run by Don Alfonso. Lesley Koenig’s approach for the Met is
more traditional but thanks to superior singing and detailed directing the
result is a delicious afternoon at the opera. Even Live in HD Director Gary
Halvorson could not ruin despite his tireless attempts to do so.
Koenig leaves
the opera in its 18th century setting in Naples and Set Designer
Michel Yeargan emphasizes the blue sea stretching beyond the house. There are
ships on the pier to take our heroes off to war. The garden, the louvered
shutters and the interior are more functional than opulent. Fiordiligi and
Dorabella may be living in comfort but there is no evidence of wealth. No
wonder they are eager to get married and the prospect of wealthy husbands is
very tempting.
Soprano Susanna
Phillips was a marvellous Fiordiligi, the sister who will stand “like a
fortress in ocean founded” against the advances of a rival lover. The acrobatic
aria “Come soglio” puts the singer on a trampoline and she must negotiate high
and low notes like a gymnast. Phillips sang with poise, control and vocal
beauty.
Mezzo soprano
Isabel Leonard as Dorabella was less resistant to the new lover’s advances but
she gave in with gorgeous singing. Movie theatre audiences got a huge bonus in being
able to see close-ups of the two lovely singers and enjoy the changing
expressions on their faces. Koenig directed them as if they were appearing in a
movie and they gave us nuanced expressions of happiness, surprise, shock and
sadness.
A scene from Mozart's "Così fan tutte."
Photo: Marty
Sohl/Metropolitan Opera
American tenor Matthew
Polenzani as Ferrando and Russian baritone Rodion Pogossov as Guglielmo started
as Neapolitan gentlemen and returned disguised as Albanians wearing Arab
clothes. The beards helped and their
singing was excellent. When Pogossov sings “Il core vi dono” giving his heart
to Dorabella in their beautiful duet all resistance melted and she forgot her
fiancé.
Ferrando’s turn
comes to sweetly assault the ramparts of Fiordiligi’s resistance and when
Polenzani tells her to turn her eye to him in pity, “Volgi a me pietoso,” the
citadel falls.
Soprano Danielle
de Niese makes a lively and enjoyable Despina. She has a smile that is a mile
wide and, in addition to a lovely voice, she exudes energy, intelligence and
cunning. She is partnered in her schemes by Maurizio Muraro as Don Alfonso and
they both provide the humour and necessary laughter at the expense of the giddy
lovers.
The real hero of
the performance was conductor James Levine. He has been ill and his return to
the podium to conduct from a specially-designed wheelchair was greeted with
wild appreciation. Mozart’s score was performed with verve and provided sheer
aural pleasure.
Gary Halvorson
played with the buttons incessantly and ended up with the inevitable stupid
shots and generally annoying angles and countless angle changes. When the embarrassed
Fiordiligi and Dorabella were caught with bridal veils on by their returning fiancés
and they had to remove them quickly, Halvorson decided to give us a shot of
Despina. Just plain stupidity but life goes on.
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