Così fan tutte - Opera - Season 16/17 Programming

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Così fan tutte

Palais Garnier - from 23 January to 19 February 2017

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Così fan tutte

Opera Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Book

Palais Garnier - from 23 January to 19 February 2017

3h40 with 1 interval

Language : Italian

About

In few words:

"For the moment you love this man. Later you’ll love another; one’s as good as another since all are worthless."
despina, Acte I, scène 9

Prompted by Don Alfonso, a cynical old philosopher, two young idealists decide to put their lovers’ fidelity to the test. But love will teach them a bitter lesson: those who believe themselves phoenixes and goddesses will discover the desires of the flesh… In 1790, one year after the French Revolution, in what would be their final collaboration, Mozart and Da Ponte conduct a scientific investigation of love.The music of Così fan tutte is truly extraordinary – complex in its symmetry, jovial and yet infused with an almost sacred melancholia. An extraordinary score where each note seems intended to make us accept a loss – lost paradise, lost youth, or a lost loved-one – and portray a world where all is in a constant state of flux. This laboratory of eroticism could but inspire choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, who excels in revealing a work’s innermost geometry on stage. With six singers doubled by six dancers, she depicts the desire which unites and separates human beings, like the interactions between atoms that, once broken, make new bonds possible

Act I

Don Alfonso, a philosopher, ironises on the subject of women’s constancy, causing Ferrando and Guglielmo, two young officers, to declare their unwavering confidence in the faithfulness of their respective brides-to-be, Dorabella and Fiordiligi. Don Alfonso wagers a hundred sequins that the objects of the young girls’ affections can be changed in the course of a day. On their honour as soldiers, the young men undertake to obey Don Alfonso in everything for the next twenty-four hours. Convinced of their victory, they discuss what they will buy with their winnings: Ferrando, a serenade to his beloved, Guglielmo, a banquet. In a garden on the coast, Fiordiligi and Dorabella lovingly contemplate the lockets which enclose their fiancés’ portraits. Don Alfonso, feigning deep sorrow, announces that their lovers have been mobilised and must leave immediately. The two officers come to bid farewell to their fiancées whose despair prompts Don Alfonso to further irony. Despina, the chamber maid, bemoans her lot as a servant. Dorabella’s grandiloquent grief at first worries Despina, but on learning its cause, she suggests her mistresses profit from the absence of their fiancés to amuse themselves. Incensed, Fiordiligi and Dorabella depart. Don Alfonso asks Despina to help him in his schemes in return for some reward, but without revealing to her the full extent of the hoax. He introduces Ferrando and Guglielmo, disguised as Albanians. On returning, Fiordiligi and Dorabella find Despina in the company of the two “strangers”. They express their indignation. Don Alfonso, pretending he has just arrived, introduces the “Albanians” as long-time friends. Guglielmo boasts about their admirable physiques, which provokes the departure of the outraged sisters. Ferrando and Guglielmo consider that they have won, but in Don Alfonso’s view everything is still to play for. In the garden, the sisters lament. The two “Albanians” feign suicide under their eyes by swallowing so-called poison. Don Alfonso calls for a doctor, a disciple of Mesmer, who is none other than Despina in disguise. The two men are miraculously revived and resume their vehement wooing of the young girls.

Act II

Despina gives the sisters a lesson on the behaviour to adopt towards men. Fiordiligi and Dorabella agree to amuse themselves in the company of the “Albanians”, each choosing the fiancé of the other. The two men serenade their sweethearts. Dorabella does not hold out long against Guglielmo’s ardent declarations and gives him the locket containing Ferrando’s portrait. Fiordiligi, though, rejects Ferrando’s advances despite the growing confusion she feels. Ferrando tells his friend of his failure, but is forced to confront Dorabella’s betrayal. Guglielmo declares he has won his half of the wager. Don Alfonso reminds them of the terms of their agreement; he is not beaten yet. Fiordiligi, who is less and less sure of her feelings, decides to join her fiancé with the troops, but Ferrando intervenes. This time she is unable to resist his passionate professions of love and succumbs. Don Alfonso is triumphant: così fan tutte (women are all alike!). He soothes the anger of the two officers and suggests that they marry their sweethearts that very evening. The wedding is being prepared. Despina, disguised as a notary, draws up the fake marriage contracts. Just as they are being signed, a military march signals the return of the fiancés. The young girls panic. The “Albanians” pretend to hide and return as their true selves. They affect surprise on discovering the bogus notary and marriage contracts and demand an explanation from their dismayed fiancées. Don Alfonso then reveals the deception and asks the four young people to let themselves be guided by reason.

CHARACTERS

Ferrando, Guglielmo: Two young officers
Fiordiligi: Guglielmo’s fiancée
Dorabella: Fiordiligi’s sister, Ferrando’s fiancée
Don Alfonso: Philosopher, friend of Ferrando and Guglielmo
Despina: Fiordiligi and Dorabella’s chambermaid

Così fan tutte

Opera buffa in two acts (1790)

Music :

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Libretto :

Lorenzo Da Ponte

Conductor :

Philippe Jordan

Director :

Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker

Choreography :

Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker

Set design :

Jan Versweyveld

Costume design :

An D’Huys

Lighting design :

Jan Versweyveld

Dramaturgy :

Jan Vandenhouwe

Chorus master :

Alessandro Di Stefano
Orchestre et Choeurs de l’Opéra national de Paris
Avec les danseurs de la Compagnie Rosas
Fiordiligi :

Jacquelyn Wagner

Ida Falk-Winland

31 jan., 7 fév.

Dorabella :

Michèle Losier

Stephanie Lauricella

31 jan., 7 fév.

Ferrando :

Frédéric Antoun

Cyrille Dubois

31 jan., 7 fév.

Guglielmo :

Philippe Sly

Edwin Crossley-Mercer

31 jan., 7 fév.

Don Alfonso :

Paulo Szot

Simone Del Savio

31 jan., 7 fév.

Despina :

Ginger Costa-Jackson

Maria Celeng

31 jan., 7 fév.

Fiordiligi (Danseur) :

Cynthia Loemij

Dorabella (Danseur) :

Samantha Van Wissen

Guglielmo (Danseur) :

Michaël Pomero

Ferrando (Danseur) :

Julien Monty

Despina (Danseur) :

Marie Goudot

Don Alfonso (Danseur) :

Boštjan Antončič

Performances

Available in audiodescription

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Available in audiodescription

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Gallery

1/23 : « Cosi fan tutte », mise en scène d’Anna Teresa De Keersmaeker, Opéra national de Paris, 2017 © Anne Van Aerschot

2/23 : © Anne Van Aerschot

3/23 : © Anne Van Aerschot

4/23 : © Anne Van Aerschot

5/23 : © Anne Van Aerschot

6/23 : © Anne Van Aerschot

7/23 : © Anne Van Aerschot

8/23 : © Anne Van Aerschot

9/23 : © Anne Van Aerschot

10/23 : © Anne Van Aerschot

11/23 : © Anne Van Aerschot

12/23 : © Anne Van Aerschot

13/23 : © Anne Van Aerschot

14/23 : © Anne Van Aerschot

Lumière sur : Les répétitions de Così fan tutte

Audio clips

Così fan tutte - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

About the work

Schönberg, Verdi, Wagner and Berlioz: the commitment to cycles

By Octave
Dancing with words

By Octave
All the same, men and women alike

By Wannes Gyselinck

Partners

Sponsor of the Paris Opera initiatives for young people and of the avant-premières

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Sponsor of the Paris Opera's audiovisual broadcasts

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With the support of AROP

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Ce spectacle fera l’objet d’une captation audiovisuelle

Une co-production Opéra national de Paris, Telmondis, Idéale Audience et Mezzo avec le soutien du CNC, réalisée par Louise Narboni.
Diffusion en direct au cinéma le 16 février, diffusion sur Mezzo ultérieurement.
Diffusion sur France Musique ultérieurement.

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