Mozart: Cosi Fan Tutte

Buona qualità regia ed interpreti

Diese Produktion müsste an alle Opern-Regisseure (oder solche, die sich dafür halten) geschickt werden mit dem ausdrücklichen Zwang, sie täglich anzusehen. Wie wunderbar, auch einmal zu sehen, wie da ein Regisseur ist, der Mozarts und herrliche Musik, und Lorenzo Da Pontes köstliches Libretto verstanden hat. Und wenn er dann noch ein Ensemble an Solisten zur Verfügung hat, sowie das Mahler Chamber Orchestra und den Arnold Schönberg Chor und einen Dirigenten wie Daniel Harding - Opernfreund, was willst du mehr? Phantastisch.

La interpretación es correcta pero no me gusta la coreografía, lo mejor Raimondi y Barbara Bonney, los demás pasables , aunque mejorables

To borrow from Mr. Morrison here, a couple of years ago, I raved about Muti's Vienna 'Cosi fan tutte' (1995) with Frittoli, Kirchschlager, Schade, Corbelli, Bacelli and Skovhus.Having watched this 1983 Salzburg Cosi, supposed to be Muti's debut of this work, I must say that this one is even better than the 1995 Vienna production, if only by a margin.The edge is principally in the drama, as the two casts are pretty even. In an one-on-one comparison, I find Frittoli in 1995 to be a slightly better Fiordiligi than Margaret Marshall in this 1983. However, Anne Murray's Dorabella here beats Kirchschlager's quite clearly by her more effective singing. As Ferrando, Araiza beats Schade marginally for a more refined style and more vivacious acting. Morris and Skovhus almost had a tie in the role of Gugliemo, but I would vie for Morris in terms of singing if not totally on acting.As Despina, Battle has a definite edge over Bacelli in 1995's Vienna performance, while the 1995 Corbelli beats Bruscantini here as Don Alfonso. So, on the whole, a slighly more effective vocal team of soloists.As far as sets go, the 1995 Vienna production is ultra-fine indeed! But the 1983 Salzburg sets are also strong - it definitely reigns over the modern settings now available widely on modern DVD productions.What I treasure most in both Muti outputs is their respective casts.In this 1983 performance, the singers are ALL of about the same age and all in their vocal prime.Anne Murray stands out clearly as a mercury-witted Dorabella, not letting Battle's pert Despina stealing the show for one single moment.Singing wise, both Araiza and Morris are in their top form. Morris's acting was a bit wooden at the earlier Act, but once he had the chance to react with Murray's Dorabella, he was virtually transformed.Francisco Araiza's Ferrando is simply definitive - if only the cut aria of Ferrando could have been there as well (as he has sung it to perfection in the Marriner recording).In Despina, we see why Kathleen Battle became James Levine's pet soprano at the MET at that time. She could act, and could sing in a multi-hued mood. Her scene as the 'doctor' totally upstaged the other soprano Margaret Marshall's singing. It is a pity that her wild temperament destroyaed her otherwise illustrious vocal career.

My first recommendation : don't buy this DVD unless you only want to listen--this is a most irritating presentation we've ever seen! We bought it mainly because of Elina Garanca, whose singing is superb even here. However, the whole thing is presented in some drab room, a rehearsal room or something. There is a large sign in italian telling us DO NOT SMOKE. There are silent strange people standing around doing nothing, a woman with a child, men rushing in from time to time to bring a bench if a singer is supposed to sit down, men dressed in unspecified costumes watching the action from nooks and crannies. The two sisters plus the servant woman dash in and out, each dressed in the same dress, one blue, one red, one, I think, white. The two lovers appear at first looking ridiculous in some Turkish (or other? Hard to know) garb, and later, not disguised at all, tempt the women while pretending to be someone else! In other words, ridiculous after ridiculous. One finds it hard even to listen, even to Elina. We managed to look and listen to the part one disk, and started on part two, but shortly got so irritated that we stopped and will never pick that DVD up again.

Not everything here deserves five stars (more on that later), but the amazing vocal offerings here keep me from rating it any lower. The best elements are Erin Wall and Elina Garanca who sound absolutely marvelous together; also, their respective arias are definite highlights. Erin Wall's soprano is silvery and shimmering--powerful at the top and surprisingly audible below the staff; the middle voice is smooth yet textured. Also, every syllable is colored with emotion. As did most of the cast, she got better dramatically and vocally as the night proceeded, but "Come scoglio" is by no means a disappointment, though her "Per pietà" is better. I wish I could make it down to the Lyric Opera of Chicago this season to see her Fiordiligi there. Elina Garanca is never any less than fabulous as Dorabella. The voice is large and opulent but high-reaching and agile; she is dramatically captivating at every moment and never drains the tension. Barbara Bonney sounds kind of odd to me below her thrilling high register, but she continuously acts as saucy as Despina should, borrowing (never stealing) the show when necessary. Of all the cast, she ornamented the most, but Mozart is supposed to be ornamented. She made it work. Tenor Shawn Mathey wasn't intensely engaging as Ferrando, but he was no less enjoyable, making "Un aura amorosa" a high point. Stéphane Degout inhabited Guglielmo and managed to make "Donne mie, la fate a tanti" more exciting than boring, though I suspect conductor Daniel Harding had a literal hand in this--he kept Mozart's score vibrant and dynamic as it should be (however, the cast occasionally fought him for tempi, though it can be tough to coordinate orchestra and singers in an outdoor theater; also, some delicious cadences are glossed over). Some people seemed to like him, but I couldn't stand Raimondi's Alfonso here. His physical mannerisms--hands flailing at the sides, wide eyes, spread mouth--grated and too much flatness pitchwise proved obnoxious, though, fortunately, he managed not to mar the transcendent "Soave sia il vento." Plus, most of his music isn't that beautifully written, so no huge loss if his voice isn't as fresh as it used to be--he plays an old character, after all. As for the direction, some of it really worked and allowed for opera to be sexy (and not crude, either), while some of it was hopelessly abstract and / or anachronistic if not saliently so. Also, I get the impression that not all his demands were not the most vocally compatible, yet the cast, as a whole, coped and sounded beautifully. The relatively young age of the four lovers probably helped in this department. One more item: The recorded sound seems pretty true to the voices and orchestra, but the instruments are more closely miked (due to the theatre layout) and occasionally overwhelm the singers. All in all, I highly recommend this DVD for its musical and textual accomplishments.