Dramma giocoso in 2 acts
Libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte
First performed January 26 1790, Burgtheater, Vienna
Introductory talks (in German) in the Holzfoyer 30 mins before curtain up and will appear here shortly after opening night and everywhere where podcasts are to be found.
Sung in Italian with German & English surtitles
Fiordiligi Teona Todua / Karolina Bengtsson
Dorabella Kelsey Lauritano
Guglielmo Taehan Kim / Sakhiwe Mkosana
Ferrando Magnus Dietrich / Andrew Kim
Despina Bianca Tognocchi / Elizabeth Reiter
Don Alfonso Liviu Holender / Sebastian Geyer
Mozart and his librettist, and kindred spirit, Lorenzo da Ponte’s third opera revolves around six people. The lives of two couples are thrown into confusion in the space of 24 hours: Guglielmo and Ferrando are persuaded to make a bet with cynical Don Alfonso about their lovers’ Fiordiligi and Dorabella’s fidelity. Don Alfonso’s convinced that, with their maid Despina's help, he can prove both sisters are fickle. The young men dress up as foreigners, to seduce their best friend’s lovers. Feigned and real emotions start getting all mixed up. The »wrong« couples even celebrate a sham double wedding, before the sisters discover their husbands' true identities. All six draw seemingly happy and conciliatory conclusions, but the laughter sticks in their throats. Can things return to how they were? Which feelings were and are real anyway?
AfterLe nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni Mozart and Da Ponte homed in on disparate people for Così fan tutte, who act spontaneously at any given moment. During the second part of this »dramma giocoso« their desires and desperation come increasingly to the fore, with the music keeping us in suspense until the bitter end. Sometimes critical, sometimes caring and understanding it accompanies the people in this »amusing« story, which opens up all kinds of psychological black holes. The authors leave all unanswered questions deliberately up in the air. The fascination of Così fan tutte lies in a conundrum, no wedding can solve.
