Così fan tutte, ossia La scuola degli amanti

Bolshoi Theatre, New Stage, Moscow, Russia

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7 PM

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Important Info

Type: Opera

City: Moscow, Russia

Starts at: 19:00

Acts: 2

Intervals: 1

Duration: 3h 40min

Sung in: Italian

Titles in: Russian

Ticket delivery: E-Tickets

E-tickets: Print at home or at the box office of the event if so specified. You will find more information in your booking confirmation email.

Can I choose my seats?

You can only select the category, and not the exact seats.
If you order 2 or 3 tickets: your seats will be next to each other.
If you order 4 or more tickets: your seats will be next to each other, or, if this is not possible, we will provide a combination of groups of seats (at least in pairs, for example 2+2 or 2+3).

Cast

Performers

Choir: Bolshoi Theatre Chorus

Orchestra: Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra

Creators

Composer: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Director: Floris Visser

Librettist: Lorenzo Da Ponte

Overview

It might seem as if Mozart and Da Ponte have returned to the traditional 18^th century opera buffa form with stock personages lifted from the commedia dell’arte. But this is just at a preliminary, superficial glance. A few years earlier Mozart had described a similar model in a letter to his father: “Here what is needed are two female roles of equal importance, one of them should be serious, the other — a demi-character part. And in terms of quality the roles should be equal. The third female role can be entirely comical. The same goes for the men”. But in Così fan tutte Mozart does not follow the symmetrical nature of this scheme. His characters acquire new traits: the ‘serious’ Ferrando also gets comical music, while the ‘demi-character’ Dorabella is given an aria worthy of a tragic heroine. The opera totally departs from the traditional definitions of the genre. Its authors themselves designate it as a dramma giocoso. In point of fact Così fan tutte embraces a vast spectrum of genres — ranging all the way from opera seria to frivolous farce. The comic and the dramatic are superimposed one upon the other. The inappropriateness of high pathos raises a smile, while beyond the play acting live human emotions and true drama suddenly come to the fore. The opera’s apparent superficiality conceals thoughts about the motives for a man’s actions, the fickleness of human nature, the rules governing society, and the ‘dictates of the heart’.

Così has only had one production at the Bolshoi — in 1978. The première performances were conducted by Yuri Simonov, the staging was by Natalia Kasatkina and Vladimir Vasilyov, Valery Leventhal did the sets. The production was given 52 performances and in 1986 it was dropped from the repertoire.
In 1989, La Scala presented its production of Così fan tutte at the Bolshoi.
In 2012, the Bolshoi returned to the opera, giving it a concert performance at the Tchaikovsky Concert Hall.
And now, two years on, the Theatre is to get its second production of Così fan tutte at the hands of a young production team headed by the Dutch director Floris Visser.

History

Premiere of this production: 26 January 1790, Burgtheater, Vienna

Così fan tutte, ossia La scuola degli amanti (All Women Do It, or The School for Lovers), is an Italian-language opera buffa in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart first performed on 26 January 1790 at the Burgtheater in Vienna, Austria. The libretto was written by Lorenzo Da Ponte who also wrote Le nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni.

Synopsis

Mozart and Da Ponte use the theme of "fiancée swapping", which dates back to the 13th century; notable earlier versions are found in Boccaccio's Decameron and Shakespeare's play Cymbeline. Elements from Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew are also present. Furthermore, it incorporates elements of the myth of Procris as found in Ovid's Metamorphoses, vii.

Place: Naples
Time: the 18th century

Act 1
Scene 1: A coffeehouse

In a cafe, Ferrando and Guglielmo (two officers) express certainty that their fiancées (Dorabella and Fiordiligi, respectively) will be eternally faithful. Don Alfonso expresses skepticism and claims that there is no such thing as a faithful woman. He lays a wager with the two officers, claiming he can prove in a day's time that those two, like all women, are fickle. The wager is accepted: the two officers will pretend to have been called off to war; soon thereafter they will return in disguise and each attempt to seduce the other's lover. The scene shifts to the two women, who are praising their men (duet: "Ah guarda sorella"—"Ah look sister"). Alfonso arrives to announce the bad news: the officers have been called off to war. Ferrando and Guglielmo arrive, brokenhearted, and bid farewell (quintet: "Sento, o Dio, che questo piede è restio"—"I feel, oh God, that my foot is reluctant"). As the boat with the men sails off to sea, Alfonso and the sisters wish them safe travel (trio: "Soave sia il vento"—"May the wind be gentle"). Alfonso, left alone, gloatingly predicts that the women (like all women) will prove unfaithful (arioso: "Oh, poverini, per femmina giocare cento zecchini?"—"Oh, poor little ones, to wager 100 sequins on a woman").

Scene 2: A room in the sisters' home

Despina, the maid, arrives and asks what is wrong. Dorabella bemoans the torment of having been left alone (aria: "Smanie implacabili"—"Torments implacable"). Despina mocks the sisters, advising them to take new lovers while their betrotheds are away (aria: "In uomini, in soldati, sperare fedeltà?"—"In men, in soldiers, you hope for faithfulness?"). After they leave, Alfonso arrives. He fears Despina will recognize the men through their disguises, so he bribes her into helping him to win the bet. The two men then arrive, dressed as mustachioed Albanians (sextet: "Alla bella Despinetta"—"Meet the pretty Despinetta"). The sisters enter and are alarmed by the presence of strange men in their home. The "Albanians" tell the sisters that they were led by love to them (the sisters). However, the sisters refuse to give in. Fiordiligi asks the "Albanians" to leave and pledges to remain faithful (aria: "Come scoglio"—"Like a rock"). The "Albanians" continue the attempt to win over the sisters' hearts, Guglielmo going so far as to point out all of his manly attributes (aria: "Non siate ritrosi"—"Don't be shy"), but to no avail. Ferrando, left alone and sensing victory, praises his love (aria: "Un'aura amorosa"—"A loving breath").

Scene 3: A garden

The sisters are still pining. Despina has asked Don Alfonso to let her take over the seduction plan. Suddenly, the "Albanians" burst in the scene and threaten to poison themselves if they are not allowed the chance to woo the sisters. As Alfonso tries to calm them, they drink the "poison" and pretend to pass out. Soon thereafter, a "doctor" (Despina in disguise) arrives on the scene and, using magnet therapy, is able to revive the "Albanians". The men, pretending to hallucinate, demand a kiss from Dorabella and Fiordiligi (whom the "Albanians" call goddesses) who stand before them. The sisters refuse, even as Alfonso and the doctor (Despina) urge them to acquiesce.

Act 2
Scene 1: The sisters' bedroom

Despina urges them to succumb to the "Albanians"' overtures (aria: "Una donna a quindici anni"—"A fifteen year old woman"). After she leaves, Dorabella confesses to Fiordiligi that she is tempted, and the two agree that a mere flirtation will do no harm and will help them pass the time while they wait for their lovers to return (duet: "Prenderò quel brunettino"—"I will take the brunette one").

Scene 2: The garden

Dorabella and the disguised Guglielmo pair off, as do the other two. The conversation is haltingly uncomfortable, and Ferrando departs with Fiordiligi. Now alone, Guglielmo attempts to woo Dorabella. She does not resist strongly, and soon she has given him a medallion (with Ferrando's portrait inside) in exchange for a heart-shaped locket (duet: "Il core vi dono"—"I give you my heart"). Ferrando is less successful with Fiordiligi (Ferrando's aria: "Ah, lo veggio"—"Ah, I see it" and Fiordiligi's aria: "Per pietà, ben mio, perdona"—"Please, my beloved, forgive"), so he is enraged when he later finds out from Guglielmo that the medallion with his portrait has been so quickly given away to a new lover. Guglielmo at first sympathises with Ferrando (aria: "Donne mie, la fate a tanti"—"My ladies, you do it to so many"), but then gloats, because his betrothed is faithful.

Scene 3: The sisters' room

Dorabella admits her indiscretion to Fiordiligi ("È amore un ladroncello"—"Love is a little thief"). Fiordiligi, upset by this development, decides to go to the army and find her betrothed. Before she can leave, though, Ferrando arrives and continues his attempted seduction. Fiordiligi finally succumbs and falls into his arms (duet: "Fra gli amplessi"—"In the embraces"). Guglielmo is distraught while Ferrando turns Guglielmo's earlier gloating back on him. Alfonso, winner of the wager, tells the men to forgive their fiancées. After all: "Così fan tutte"—"All women are like that".

Scene 4:

The scene begins as a double wedding for the sisters and their "Albanian" grooms. Despina, in disguise as a notary, presents the marriage contract, which all sign. Directly thereafter, military music is heard in the distance, indicating the return of the officers. Alfonso confirms the sisters' fears: Ferrando and Guglielmo are on their way to the house. The "Albanians" hurry off to hide (actually, to change out of their disguises). They return as the officers, professing their love. Alfonso drops the marriage contract in front of the officers, and, when they read it, they become enraged. They then depart and return moments later, half in Albanian disguise, half as officers. Despina has been revealed to be the notary, and the sisters realize they have been duped. All is ultimately forgiven, as the entire group praises the ability to accept life's unavoidable good times and bad times.

Venue Info

Bolshoi Theatre - Moscow
Teatralnaya Square 1

The Bolshoi Theatre is a historic theatre in Moscow, Russia, originally designed by architect Joseph Bové, which holds ballet and opera performances. Before the October Revolution it was a part of the Imperial Theatres of the Russian Empire along with Maly Theatre (Small Theatre) in Moscow and a few theatres in Saint Petersburg (Hermitage Theatre, Bolshoi (Kamenny) Theatre, later Mariinsky Theatre and others).

The Bolshoi Ballet and Bolshoi Opera are amongst the oldest and most renowned ballet and opera companies in the world. It is by far the world's biggest ballet company, with more than 200 dancers. The theatre is the parent company of The Bolshoi Ballet Academy, a world-famous leading school of ballet. It has a branch at the Bolshoi Theater School in Joinville, Brazil.

The main building of the theatre, rebuilt and renovated several times during its history, is a landmark of Moscow and Russia (its iconic neoclassical façade is depicted on the Russian 100-ruble banknote). On 28 October 2011, the Bolshoi re-opened after an extensive six-year renovation. The official cost of the renovation is 21 billion rubles ($688 million). However, other Russian authorities and other people connected to it claimed much more public money was spent. The renovation included restoring acoustics to the original quality (which had been lost during the Soviet Era), as well as restoring the original Imperial decor of the Bolshoi.

The company was founded on 28 March [O.S. 17 March] 1776, when Catherine II granted Prince Peter Ouroussoff a licence to organise theatrical performances, balls and other forms of entertainment. Ouroussoff set up the theatre in collaboration with English tightrope walker Michael Maddox. Initially, it held performances in a private home, but it acquired the Petrovka Theatre and on 30 December 1780, it began producing plays and operas, thus establishing what would become the Bolshoi Theatre. Fire destroyed the Petrovka Theatre on 8 October 1805, and the New Arbat Imperial Theatre replaced it on 13 April 1808, however it also succumbed to fire during the French invasion of Moscow in 1812.

The first instance of the theatre was built between 1821 and 1824, designed and supervised to completion by architect Joseph Bové based upon an initial competition-winning design created by Petersburg-based Russian architect Andrei Mikhailov that was deemed too costly to complete. Bové also concurrently designed the nearby Maly Theatre and the surrounding Theater Square, The new building opened on 18 January 1825 as the Bolshoi Petrovsky Theatre with a performance of Fernando Sor's ballet, Cendrillon. Initially, it presented only Russian works, but foreign composers entered the repertoire around 1840.