Last Updated on February 7, 2026
All The World’s a Stage
It’s a week of Mozart for me. Tonight is a revival of Jan Philipp Gloger’s Olivier-nominated 2016 production of Così Fan Tutte at Covent Garden and on Sunday I’m off to Glyndebourne to see The Magic Flute. To top it all the sun has finally come out. Così fan tutte (Women are like that) is a two-act comic opera and the last of the composer’s three collaborations with librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte, the other two being Le nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni, that have become such a central part of the operatic canon. Cosi was a commission from the court of Hapsburg monarch Joseph II, one of the great Enlightenment reformers. It received its premiere in January 1790 at the court-run Burgtheater in Vienna. The work didn’t fit into the moral codes of the period receiving only 10 initial performances and a frosty reception. Così Fan Tutte is now perceived as a sophisticated unpacking of the foibles of human romance, emotion and weakness with the contemporaneous critics having missed out on what author E.T.A Hoffman describes as the ‘most delectable irony’ that lies at its heart. It is that irony that allows Cosi still to breathe in our contemporary world in which the conception of women as weak-willed and unable to resist temptation can only be judged in the light of male ‘gaslighting’ and control.
The story of Così Fan Tutte centres around two young couples. Two naive young chaps, Ferrando and Guglielmo believe in the honour and fidelity of their inamoratas, Dorabella and Fiordiligi. However, they are lured into a wager by their older friend Don Alfonso who insists that it is in a woman’s nature to be unfaithful and who is ably assisted by his perfect foil, the maid Despina, Don Alfonso suggests to Dorabella and Fiordiligi that the young men pretend to have been called away to fight in the army, only for them to return in disguise as Albanian noblemen to test the moral resolve of the other’s girlfriend by attempting to seduce them. This is all to take place in a 24-hour window with some delicious emotional chaos breaking out as Don Alfonso’s plan is predictably successful and the two male lovers are caught in a trap of their own setting.
Jan Philipp Gloger’s production attempts to extend the meta-theatrical elements already present in Da Ponte’s narrative. We know that Ferrando and Guglielmo are putting on an act with their disguises – a show within a show – creating an internal narrative arc in which the young men move from acting out of their feigned adoration of the other’s girlfriend to the more visceral feelings of jealousy and rage as their faith in the constancy of their girlfriends is dashed. Gloger’s further conceit is that the opera itself begins at the end of a performance of Cosi. As the house band gives an immaculately drawn performance of the overture under the baton of conductor Alexander Soddy, the performers of the ‘fictional’ Cosi are taking their curtain calls. Some of the fictional cast, dressed in periwigs and frock coats are part of the real Cosi ensemble creating a post-modern mish-mash of eras and costumes. To hammer home the ‘show within a show’ device, designer Ben Baur’s attractively stylised sets often reference the theatre using settings such as a backstage area and a dressing room – and the others are often framed within a variety of proscenium arches that sit within that of the theatre.
Dressed in a summery lilac frock, rising star American mezzo-soprano Samantha Hankey made her House debut last night in the role of Dorabella., Hankey brought together pathos with a crystalline vocal tone and fabulous Mozartian technical mastery as she ate up the scales and arpeggios in her Act 1 showcase “Smanie implacabili”—”Torments implacable”.
Alongside Hankey, as her sister Fiordiligi, South African soprano Golda Schultz brought considerable emotional heft to her standout aria “Come scoglio”—”Like a rock”, with a sound that matched the well-fitted gold-burnished pleated number she was wearing. The selfie-taking two sisters also gave us some glorious duet singing in Act 2 (“Prenderò quel brunettino”—”I will take the dark-haired one”).
German tenor Daniel Behle (Ferrando), reprising his role from the original 2016 production is one of the most expressive tenors able to shift gears easily from a gentle textured vocal sound to a more traditional heroic tone. His Act 1 aria “Un’aura amorosa”—”A loving breath” was a masterclass of control and emotion.
Italian baritone Andrè Schuen as Guglielmo brought a relaxed macho swagger to his role also encapsulated in his vocal sound as he praises his manly qualities in the aria: “Non siate ritrosi”—”Don’t be shy”. I’m not quite sure why costume designer Karin Jud dressed the fake pair of Albanians as members of a Blues Brothers tribute band in black fedoras and ties, dark suits and white shirts – maybe she didn’t want to offend the Albanian community? – but some of the inherent comedy was lost.
Canadian bass-baritone Gerald Finley as the spritely provocateur Don Alfonso brought out his comedic side rather than the more romantic qualities he is often known for.
But in a sense, the real subversive centre of the piece is the maid Despina sung by British soprano Jennifer France as a red-headed cocktail-shaking, bar-strutting whirlwind. Despina pushes the two sisters over the cliff edge of fidelity in her aria: “Una donna a quindici anni”—”A fifteen-year-old woman” making the most of her translucent vocal tone and powerful coloratura edge. France has to double up as an ancient doctor and notary utilising her fine comic acting skills.
Conductor Alexander Soddy draws a top-class performance from the singers and orchestra combining a lightness of touch with a firm control of dynamics and tempo that allowed the score to breathe effortlessly.
With a fabulous cast and some of the best ensemble singing I’ve heard for a while, revival director Oliver Platt has done a very solid job creating an emotionally coherent production which should hold no fears for traditionalists. If it doesn’t quite hit the comic heights, that is made up for by some gorgeous staging and exquisite singing that allows for a glorious unfurling of Mozart’s melodic and contrapuntal lines. Go see.
26 June–10 July 2024
Royal Opera House
Bow Street,
London,
WC2E 9DD
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