In the house, Gloger’s looked like a staging that knew it was being clever and that smugness transfers to the screen on this Opus Arte Blu-ray/DVD release. Focusing more on the opera’s subtitle – The School for Lovers – the German director presents the action as Don Alfonso conducting a social experiment, trying to test whether the two sisters can be swayed towards infidelity even though they are party to the men’s wager. Gloger deconstructs Così from the opening bars; during the Overture, a cast – of Così – takes its curtain call after which two pairs of latecomers make their way through the stalls to find their seats. (At the end of an opera? Don’t ask.) Don Alfonso invites them to take to the stage to test his cynical thesis. The curtain eventually rises on the ROH Crush Bar as the girls check out photos of their boyfriends on their iPhones. It’s all very meta.

Johannes Martin Kränzle’s slippery Alfonso guides his ‘cast’ through a series of scenes where backstage merges with theatre, referencing film, including a Brief Encounter railway station and a Dolce vita nightclub bar. The lovers’ attempted seduction of each other’s girlfriend takes place on a clumpy stage set representing the Garden of Eden, featuring wraparound sparkly snake. Sabina Puértolas’s perky Despina is clad in a series of outlandish costumes, including bearded Old Testament prophet. A technical crew rubs shoulders with the cast as Don Alfonso’s scenario plays out. Gloger’s idea to emphasise that the men are just as much to blame is neatly carried out by having an electrician adjust the neon title to ‘Così fan tutti’, spreading the blame beyond ‘all women are like that’ to include the men too.

Semyon Bychkov is a splendid conductor of Strauss but he treats Così like Rosenkavalier, coating it in molten chocolate. His tempos stretch his young cast unfairly. As Fiordiligi, Corinne Winters is severely tested by the low notes and Bychkov’s turgid tempo in ‘Come scoglio’ but her gleaming top notes in ‘Per pietà’ are wonderful. Angela Brower is an accomplished Dorabella, while Alessio Arduini’s silky baritone makes for a smooth Guglielmo. Daniel Behle copes with the slow tempos the best to deliver a beautiful ‘Un aura amorosa’.

For a classic staging, turn to Nicholas Hytner’s glorious Glyndebourne production (also on Opus Arte), its wonderful cast headed by Miah Persson.