A rainy Tuesday evening; Nottingham Theatre Royal, Mozart, 6 exceptional opera singers, one sublime Orchestra and a dynamic baton waver, the evening is set to be a memorable one.
Cosi Fan Tutte is difficult to translate into English; ‘They’re All Like That’ which relates to the bet an older philosopher has with two young soldiers, that their lovers would prove to be unfaithful if put to the test. Once the wager is accepted the fun begins…
The action takes place inside a huge camera, we see Don Alfonso cleaning the lens at the beginning of act one, this set is very simple but effective. I also liked the clever use of scarves and pins, to change to look of our leading two sisters as the opera unfolds.
The opera was sung in English for this production and for the most part it could be followed but I heard a few at the interval saying they would have liked surtitles, but I think on balance it would have spoiled this production, some of the asides seemed fresh, comic and adlib, if so, impossible to transcribe.
Fiordiligi, Maire Flavin the soprano was superb, her aria in the second act (“Per pietà”) was totally mesmerising, she had the whole audience spell bound. A mention too of the ‘maid’ ‘lawyer’ ‘doctor’ Despina, Ellie Laugharne, who played her part with natural enthusiasm, to be fair all six of the performers shone.
An alternative name used for this opera by Mozart’s librettist Da Ponte was ‘The school for Lovers’ the themes of this clever opera, perhaps had a lesson in there somewhere for us all.
See Opera North this week till the 12th March, I like sitting in the upper Balcony, if you do too, you can see top quality opera for great value.
Tickets available from: http://www.trch.co.uk/
Review by Ann Taylor
