Eros and Philosophy in Music and Vision 6 August

Eros and Philosophy GIUSEPPE PENNISI's last report from this year's Salzburg Festival features a new production of Mozart's 'Così fan tutte' Così fan tutte is one of Mozart's most popular operas. It requires only six singers. The plot is simple. The music is gorgeous. The action does not need to be set in Naples in the eighteenth century but just in any place and in any historical period as recently recalled in this magazine ('Mixed Feelings', 28 June 2016). It is almost a staple of the Salzburg Summer Festival, where there have been forty five stagings (between new productions and revivals) since 1922, without counting those at the 'opera seasons' of the Landestheater, at the Marionette Theatre, at the Mozart Week in January-February, at the Easter Festival, at the Whitsun Festival or those in other minor venues. Thus, I would expect nothing less than the best from a brand new production. Martina Janková as Despina and Michael Volle as Don Alfonso in Mozart's 'Così fan tutte' at the Salzburg Festival. Photo © 2016 Ruth Walz. Click on the image for higher resolution In 2013, I was somewhat disappointed by the very traditional, elegantly plush but neither innovative nor imaginative staging (New Directions, 31 August 2013) offered at the Festival. In the Summer Festival 2016, the same director, Sven-Eric Bechtolf, in a different theatre (Felsenreitschule, rather than Haus für Mozart) had a very different result. Initially, I was concerned about the staging of Così in the huge Felsenreitschule, originally conceived not as a theatre but as a place where horsemen would train horses for the pleasure of the Prince-Cardinal who ruled Salzburg in Mozart's times. Nonetheless, Sven-Eric Bechtolf (who is also the set designer, whilst the costumes are signed by Mark Bouman) had a brilliant idea. The well-known plot is conceived as the contrast between Masonic Enlightenment, on the one hand, and affections, Eros and sex instincts, on the other. The action is played in the central part of the stage (with only painted sets and props) whilst on the side of the stage it is observed by the Masons who also move to the three rows of boxes (originally conceived so that the Salzburg aristocracy could admire the horses and their trainers in the eighteenth century). In short, a dark comedy on the struggle between philosophy (Enlightenment and its rationalism), on the one hand, and sentiments and erotic love, on the other. At the end, there is no winner: the final scene is open as the confrontation continues ... maybe forever. Julia Kleiter as Fiordiligi in Mozart's 'Così fan tutte' at the Salzburg Festival. Photo © 2016 Ruth Walz. Click on the image for higher resolution Così is not only dramaturgy and philosophy but essential music. In the pit, the Salzburg Mozarteum Orchestra conducted by Ottavio Dantone provided a magnificent reading of the unabridged score. As the opera is quite long — four hours including a half hour intermission between the first and the second part — the recitatives are often shortened, which does not help understanding the work. Maestro Dantone is a specialist of baroque operas and concerts, and offered an exemplary reading of the frequent changes of moods, tints and colors — a key element of the score. Julia Kleiter as Fiordiligi, Martina Janková as Despina, Alessio Arduini as Guglielmo, Michael Volle as Don Alfonso, Mauro Peter as Ferrando and Angel Brower as Dorabella in Mozart's 'Così fan tutte' at the Salzburg Festival. Photo © 2016 Ruth Walz. Click on the image for higher resolution The six singers are also excellent actors: Julia Kleiter (Fiordiligi), Angela Brower (Dorabella), Martina Janková (Despina), Mauro Peter (Ferrando), Alessio Arduini (Guglielmo) and Michael Volle (Don Alfonso). Especially impressive were Michael Volle as an authoritative 'enlightened' Don Alfonso and Julia Kleiter as a doubtful and tormented Fiordiligi. A great success. Copyright © 6 August 2016 Giuseppe Pennisi, Rome, Italy Giuseppe Pennisi reviewed the 2 August 2016 performance of Così fan tutte. The Salzburg Summer Festival continues until 31 August 2016, and the Salzburg Whitsun Festival takes place 2-5 June 2017. Further information: www.salzburgerfestspiele.at WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART COSI FAN TUTTE SALZBURG FESTIVAL SALZBURG AUSTRIA  << M&V home       Concert reviews        Der Liebe der Danae >>