Classical Music

There are two approaches to staging Mozart and Da Ponte’s best-known opera. It can be performed as a cheery, bawdy romp – a romantic comedy which celebrates human frailty even as it reveals it. But this tale of cynicism, suspicion and romantic deception is subject to another, darker interpretation. This was recently articulated by Edward Said as a vision of ‘a universe shorn of any redemptive or palliative scheme’. By all accounts, Nicholas Hytner’s current Glyndebourne staging is something of a triumph, offering ‘Cosi Fan Tutte’ as comedy but never underplaying its underlying seriousness of intent. Feature continues

Appropriately, for this ensemble opera, the cast is youthful, earthy and balanced, amply communicating the desolation and disillusion implicit in the piece while revelling in the beauty of its musical setting. Opera can often seem opaque and elitist to the layman, and Glyndebourne itself is an expensive day out. For the curious but uninitiated, this well-received staging of a complex but accessible work represents a good opportunity to dip a toe into the water. But this production also seems sufficiently rich to satisfy the aficionados too.