(miamiartzine.com reviewed the opera during a performance at the Arsht Center Miami. Florida Grand Opera performs in Fort Lauderdale at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts / Au-Rene Theater on Thursday, Feb. 12 and Saturday, Feb. 14 at 7:30 p.m.)
Certainly opera was the musical theater of its day, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte were the Rodgers and Hammerstein of the 18th century, cranking out three of the most enduring operas ever composed: Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni and Così fan tutte.
Così had a strange trajectory. After only five performances from its Vienna premier in 1790, it closed due to the public mourning for the death of Emperor Joseph II. It was not remounted again in Mozart’s lifetime. In fact, it fell off the radar of opera houses for years. Viennese audiences in 1790 were comfortable with its risqué subject matter: Fiancée swapping embedded in the double standard (okay for men to be unfaithful, women not). With changing norms, audiences in the 1800s were not so comfortable with the plot. Productions mounted in the 19th century did not even use Da Ponte’s libretto. It took Così 132 years before it first played in the U.S., premiering at the Metropolitan Opera in 1922. Now it is number 14 on the list of the most frequently performed operas worldwide. And with its original text intact – it’s a comedy for heaven’s sake!
Cosi fan tutte cast and conductor. Top row: Arthur Woodley, Bernard Uzan, Brenda Patterson, Jason Slayden, Ava Pine. Second row: Carla Jablonski, Isaac Bray, Sari Gruber, Domenico Boyagian, Jonathan Beyer. Third row: Daniel Bates, Hailey Clark, Rebecca Henriques, Tsvi Kaplan Howard, Ramon Tebar, conductor.
Florida Grand Opera opened its production of Così on Saturday, January 24, to a capacity crowd at the Adrienne Arsht Center / Ziff Ballet Opera House.
Indeed, if the best writing is writing what you know, Da Ponte's own life as a Jew/priest/womanizer, combined with his sharp wit, was the stuff that helped him imbue the “operatic cliché of disguise with a sense of Romantic irony.” Mozart’s rep as a ladies’ man no doubt helped him inform his music as well.
Così was set in the times of Mozart, and stage director Bernard Uzan set this FGO production in a present day European resort. Methinks there is the scent of continuity in the air… Ah! But we digress.
The story in this production is set in motion by two young military officers, Ferrando and Guglielmo (tenor Jason Slayden and baritone Jonathan Beyer, respectively), who are visiting their vacationing fiancées, sisters Dorabella and Fiordiligi (mezzo-soprano Brenda Patterson and Soprano Sari Gruber). The boys are boasting how their lovers are constant, passionate and loyal, when an older friend, Don Alfonso (bass Arthur Woodley), makes a substantial wager with them that neither of the girls will be faithful, in fact they will stray within one day, if given the right opportunity. Wager accepted.
The lion’s share of the opera is devoted to the boys trying to seduce each other’s fiancée. To say that the audience must suspend disbelief, is a colossal understatement – the two scheming men headed off to war, and then instantly returned in colorful exotic disguises as bearded "lumbersexuals" to tempt each other’s wives-to-be…well, okay, you had to be there.
Sure, the ruse is preposterous, but no telling how any woman would react when seduced by Mozart’s sensuous music. What woman wouldn’t fall prey to someone who sang so sweetly the words, “Un'aura amorosa”? The handsome Slayden sang of this possibility of love from his beloved, with sweet emotion, and later deftly navigated the busy lilting notes of the multi-layered “Ah, lo veggio,” conveying well his charms to Fiordiligi.
The Lanky and lithe Beyer marketed his manly attributes to the ladies with a baritone as strong as his character, melodramatically flexing his muscles to the delight of the audience in “Non siate ritrosi.” He later broadly complained about the unfaithfulness of women, “Donne mie, la fate a tanti,” with a smug and conquering sensibility.
Fiordiligi’s aria, “Come scoglio,” pledging to be faithful to her husband-to-be, is challenging to the most adept of sopranos, the tessitura, like an unrelenting roller coaster; Mozart sparse with the accompaniment, allows the voice to sink or swim with the multiple highs and lows that must be rapidly traversed. The fair-haired and graceful Gruber brought temperament to the aria, managing the range of her voice with no apparent flaw. She rendered “Per pietà, ben mio, perdona,” with combined sincerity and heart, as she beautifully asked her absent Guglielmo to forgive for her feelings of betrayal.
Patterson, playing a less cautious Dorabella, bemoaning the torment of being left alone, employed her powerful mezzo in “Smanie implacabili,” not only with the required over-the-top grief, but with a smidgen of genuine longing through the mock-hysteria. Trying to convince Fiordiligi to the dalliance, Patterson renders “È amore un ladroncello” (Love is a little thief) with a crisp and enthusiastic voice.
A pair of duets was noteworthy: Beyer and Patterson teamed up on “Il core vi dono,” their tenderness palpable as Dorabella’s resistance to Guglielmo’s advances had all but vanished. Slayden and Gruber were just as simpatico on “Fra gli amplessi,” Fiordiligi finally succumbing to Ferrando.
A master of musical theater, alternating the laughs with gentle moments, Mozart’s music seamlessly breaks away from the satire and transports the audience with tenderness. A solemn and beautiful moment came with the quintet, “Sento, o Dio, che questo piede è restio” as the boys headed off to war. The three men and two women richly covered the entire vocal range, abundantly harmonic and hallowed.
The trio “Soave sia il vento” is exquisite and shines brightest in the whole of the opera. Alfonso, Fiordiligi and Dorabella wish the soldiers a bon voyage, uniting their voices atop Mozart’s remarkable music, the strings capturing the forward motion of the gentle wind. Woodley, Gruber and Patterson blended the gorgeous harmonies precisely; the soprano soaring above, the bass mounting below, the three voices combining were, in a word, spectacular.
Woodley remained a confident Don Alfonso throughout the opera, boasting a solid sense of timing, a strong basso, and a dominant presence in the ensembles. His stout voice in “Tutti accusan le donne” admonished the lads for not being active enough in their original courtship of their fiancées. He delivered the line, “Così fan tutte” – All women are like that – after winning the bet.
Ava Pine, playing the maid Despina, was the scene stealer – and for good reason – she’s a natural at comic portrayals with an outstanding voice, both in quality and character. As the maid, advising the sisters to take lovers while their men were away (“In uomini, in soldati, sperare fedeltà?” – In men, in soldiers, you hope for faithfulness?), the perky, mischievous and petite Pine mocked the sisters with lovely animation and an infectious soprano, later pointing out that they should know how to flirt successfully (”Una donna a quindici anni”). As the doctor, coming to cure the boys who have swallowed poison (unable in their efforts to woo the sisters), Pine upped the comedy, reviving the men with her wildly complicated medical equipment. Serving up yet another wonderful character, Pine, as notary, marries the two couples, her High-pitched voice and costume reminiscent of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg's work uniform, drawing love from the crowd.
At the end, the text is unclear whether or not the original couples unite in forgiveness or the ladies swap partners. Mozart, a fan of ambiguity, liked it that way. FGO’s stage director Uzan had the sisters pass each other as they crossed the stage to claim the man previously engaged to their sister. This shift in affections and loyalties did prompt a thought: perhaps the endgame of a test of fidelity may be useful in exposing flaws, hinting that the test may help couples know their partners more deeply, or might it be best to switch partners and avoid a future divorce! Then again, perhaps too deep a thought for such a shallow story.
In either case, Mozart’s music is the real payoff.
The orchestra, led by FGO’s Principal Conductor, Maestro Ramón Tebar, expertly ferried Mozart’s sublime music, from the traditional sparse harpsichord lines advancing the recitative, to the innovative arias, duets and ensembles.
The set used enormous receding gilded picture frames (framing the action). Follow spots lit the principal artists whose costumes were wildly colorful contemporary resort wear.
The Creative Team: direction by Bernard Uzan; chorus master, Brett Karlin; set by Riccardo Hernandez; lighting by Donald E. Thomas; costumes by Howard Tsvi Kaplan; adroit observations by Justin Moss.
Sung in Italian with projected titles in English and Spanish Miami
Adrienne Arsht Center / Ziff Ballet Opera HouseFriday, Jan. 30 and Saturday, Jan. 31 at 8 p.m.
Fort Lauderdale - Broward Center for the Performing Arts / Au-Rene Theater
Thursday, Feb. 12 and Saturday, Feb. 14 at 7:30 p.m.
Note: Tenor Daniel Bates and baritone Isaac Bray will be playing Ferrando and Guglielmo, soprano Hailey Clark and mezzo-soprano Carla Jablonski playing Fiordiligi and Dorabella, and playing Despina will be Rebecca Henriques, respectively, on January 30 and February 14.
