Mozart Così fan Tutte
Mozart in the swinging Sixties in a production that goes right to the emotional heart of the music
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Genre:
DVD
Label: TDK
Magazine Review Date: 1/2004
Media Format: Digital Versatile Disc
Media Runtime: 172
Mastering:
Stereo
Catalogue Number: DV-OPCFT

Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Così fan tutte |
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer
Berlin State Opera Chorus Berlin State Opera Orchestra Daniel Barenboim, Conductor Daniela Bruera, Despina, Soprano Dorothea Röschmann, Fiordiligi, Soprano Hanno Müller-Brachmann, Guglielmo, Baritone Katharina Kammerloher, Dorabella, Mezzo soprano Roman Trekel, Don Alfonso, Bass Werner Güra, Ferrando, Tenor Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Composer |
Author: mscott rohan
Così fan tutte’s ambiguities and ironies lend themselves to updating – as in ENO’s latest production, Glyndebourne’s ocean-liner setting, or Peter Sellars’ notorious ‘Despina’s Diner’. Munich film director and self-confessed ‘opera virgin’ Doris Dörrie applied more imagination, though, rooting her Berlin staging in the early Swinging Sixties, when traditional concepts of morality and fidelity were taking a beating reminiscent of Da Ponte’s day.
However clever the idea, though, Così above all operas has to work musically, or not at all – something Sellars, for one, forgot. It has never been Barenboim’s best opera, but most people would enjoy this in the theatre – mellow, easily paced but lively, and boasting some excellent voices, notably Werner Güra and the sisters, Dorothea Röschmann attacking ‘Come scoglio’ with guns blazing. Roman Trekel is a livewire, nasty Alfonso, though it inclines him to bark, and Daniela Bruera a pretty good Despina.
And on the whole Dörrie’s konzept works remarkably well. A specialist in sour-sweet romance, she goes right to the emotional heart of the music, far more important than the period dressing, and brings out both consequences of Alfonso’s little joke, the immediate comedy and the lasting pain and confusion – with a surprising ending for the two cynics. That lets us swallow the clash of styles, wittily presented – the sharp suits and vivid Mary Quant-style dresses, as opposed to Despina’s more laid-back Indian prints (and guru disguise) and the hippie-fied ‘Albanians’, hilariously appropriate in those shaggy coats some of us used to wear. The Sixties glasshouse set is appealing, and only the opening air terminal, full of complaisant hostesses, seems too broad. The costumes, though – and their removal – do underline that the lovers are a bit old for their characters.
John Eliot Gardiner has produced as well as conducted a superbly ‘authentic’ Così; but this, with little musical compromise and vividly recorded in widescreen and surround-sound, offers a pleasantly rude alternative.
However clever the idea, though, Così above all operas has to work musically, or not at all – something Sellars, for one, forgot. It has never been Barenboim’s best opera, but most people would enjoy this in the theatre – mellow, easily paced but lively, and boasting some excellent voices, notably Werner Güra and the sisters, Dorothea Röschmann attacking ‘Come scoglio’ with guns blazing. Roman Trekel is a livewire, nasty Alfonso, though it inclines him to bark, and Daniela Bruera a pretty good Despina.
And on the whole Dörrie’s konzept works remarkably well. A specialist in sour-sweet romance, she goes right to the emotional heart of the music, far more important than the period dressing, and brings out both consequences of Alfonso’s little joke, the immediate comedy and the lasting pain and confusion – with a surprising ending for the two cynics. That lets us swallow the clash of styles, wittily presented – the sharp suits and vivid Mary Quant-style dresses, as opposed to Despina’s more laid-back Indian prints (and guru disguise) and the hippie-fied ‘Albanians’, hilariously appropriate in those shaggy coats some of us used to wear. The Sixties glasshouse set is appealing, and only the opening air terminal, full of complaisant hostesses, seems too broad. The costumes, though – and their removal – do underline that the lovers are a bit old for their characters.
John Eliot Gardiner has produced as well as conducted a superbly ‘authentic’ Così; but this, with little musical compromise and vividly recorded in widescreen and surround-sound, offers a pleasantly rude alternative.
Discover the world's largest classical music catalogue with Presto Music.

Gramophone Digital Club
- Digital Edition
- Digital Archive
- Reviews Database
- Full website access
From £8.75 / month
Subscribe
Gramophone Full Club
- Print Edition
- Digital Edition
- Digital Archive
- Reviews Database
- Full website access
From £11.00 / month
Subscribe
If you are a library, university or other organisation that would be interested in an institutional subscription to Gramophone please click here for further information.