Mozart: Cosi Fan Tutte

“One wonders in general how that great intellect could lower himself to waste his heavenly and sweet melodies on such a miserable and trashy text” (Niemetschek, writing in 1798, in an “official” Mozart biography). Cosi, like all good comedy, hovers on the brink of being a tragedy. Niemetschek’s dismissal of Da Ponte’s libretto as “trashy” is also not that wide of the mark. All the elements of farce are there, and it’s not unusual in recent years to watch “Carry on Cosi” productions, especially in major opera houses. THE PLOT Set in Eighteenth Century Naples, two young officers, Ferrando and ... more