If you think you can’t dance to Mozart’s music with 21st century abandon the same way you can dance at your favorite D.C. club, you simply must see the Washington National Opera’s current “Cosi fan tutti,” a superb contemporary production set “yesterday afternoon in Washington, D.C.” In the very first scene, its two major female characters, the sisters Fiordiligi (Elizabeth Futral) and Dorabella (Renata Pokupi), express their delight at being in love by swinging and swaying to Mozart’s music, cell phones in hand. The libretto (by Lorenzo da Ponte) and music are still the original; the modern steps fit right in.
Based on director Jonathan Miller’s original staging from London’s Royal Opera House, this Cosi features the Washington National Opera Orchestra, conducted by Music Director Philippe Auguin, in a lively production that addresses Cosi’s eternal problem as a hybrid opera: musically, it’s a tribute to love but it’s also a comedy and a satire of the “I-can’t-live-without-love” conceit.
The opera begins when Don Alfonso (William Shimell), bets two younger men, Guglielmo (Tedy Tahu Rhodes) and Ferrando (Joel Prieto) that their fiancees, Fiordiligi and Dorabella respectively, can be proven to be unfaithful. The men won’t believe him, but agree to test their girlfriends’ fidelity by pretending to leave the city and disguising themselves.
| Onstage |
| ‘Cosi fan Tutti’ |
| Where: Kennedy Center, 2700 F St. NW |
| When: Through March 15 |
| Info: Tickets start at $25; 202-467-4600; kennedy-center.org |
| NOTE: This is a Seattle Opera production. On March 9 and 11 it will be performed with members of the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist Program. See website for alternative casting. |
When the men return dressed as two guys from Baltimore, in black leather jackets, shades and bandannas, the women don’t recognize them and do their best to fight off their advances.
Futral is the epitome of grace and dignity as Fiordiligi, bringing sweetness, determination and sexuality to the role. Her range and vocal color are particularly clear in “Per pieta.” Futral is well matched by mezzo-soprano Pokupi, whose voice is strong and who lends a comic quality to the role of Dorabella. Prieto is appealing both for the quality of his powerful tenor and his technical finish. Rhodes’ dynamic baritone voice and commanding presence make him an elegant, irresistible Guglielmo.
Shimell is excellent as the vain, manipulative Don Alfonso, who is continually smoothing his hair and talking on his cell phone. Christine Brandes is delightful as the spunky maid, Despina, who hams it up in two extra roles.
Miller’s set, a great white apartment with one sofa, a huge standing mirror and a pile of pillows on the floor, is a perfect home for Fiordiligi and Dorabella, an upscale pad where they fit right in in their jeans, heels and colorful blouses and sweaters, designed by Timm Burrow.
It may take you a moment to adjust to this fresh presentation of Mozart’s lyrical tribute to love and all the passion, confusion and difficulty that can accompany it, but the adjustment is well worth the effort.
