"The opera premiered in January 1790 at the court-run Burgtheater in Vienna, with only 10 initial performances and a frosty critical reception due to its perceived immorality. In more recent years, critical opinion has shifted, with Così fan tutte being seen as a sophisticated unpacking of the foibles of human romance, emotion, and weakness, with contemporaneous critics having missed what author E.T.A. Hoffmann describes as the 'most delectable irony' at its heart."
"The two innocents are lured into a wager by their older mentor, Don Alfonso. Ably assisted by his perfect foil, the maid Despina, Alfonso insists that it is in a woman's nature to be unfaithful. Don Alfonso suggests to Dorabella and Fiordiligi that the young men pretend to have been called away to fight in the army, so that they can return in disguise as Albanian noblemen."
Phelim McDermott's revival presents Così fan tutte stylishly and with timely relevance. The two-act comic opera is Mozart's final collaboration with librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte and a central work alongside Le nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni. The opera premiered in January 1790 at Vienna's Burgtheater with only ten early performances and a frosty reception due to perceived immorality. Critical opinion later reframed the work as a sophisticated unpacking of human romantic foibles, emotion, and weakness. The opera contains a 'most delectable irony' at its heart. The plot follows two couples, a manipulative wager by Don Alfonso, disguise and seduction, and resulting emotional chaos now read through modern notions of male gaslighting and control.
Read at London Unattached
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