COSÌ FAN TUTTE
W.A. Mozart“Eye-popping production” – Toronto Star
Mozart's ability to treat the most profound subjects with the lightest touch is at the heart of this story about two young men who decide to test the loyalty of their lovers, sisters Dorabella and Fiordiligi. As the unusual experiment begins, nothing unfolds quite as expected, with all assumptions and good intentions challenged by the unpredictable complexities of the human heart.
Atom Egoyan’s playful, whimsical production of Mozart’s comedy is realized by a brilliant cast, led by Kirsten MacKinnon and Emily D’Angelo.
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On stage at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, 145 Queen St. W., Toronto.
Performance time is approximately three hours and 25 minutes, including one intermission.
ACT I: 90 minutes / Intermission 25 minute / ACT II: 90 minutes.
Sung in Italian with English SURTITLESTM
Fiordiligi Kirsten MacKinnon
Dorabella Emily D’Angelo
Guglielmo Johannes Kammler
Ferrando Ben Bliss
Despina Tracy Dahl
Don Alfonso Russell Braun
Conductor Bernard Labadie
Director Atom Egoyan
Set & Costume Designer Debra Hanson
Lighting Designer Michael Walton
Price Family Chorus Master* Sandra Horst
*Sandra Horst and the COC Chorus are generously underwritten by Tim & Frances Price
| Production originally made possible in part by |
| PHILIP DECK & KIMBERLEY BOZAK |
| BMO FINANCIAL GROUP |
With the COC Orchestra and Chorus
SYNOPSIS IN A MINUTE
Don Alfonso bets two young men that their fiancées would not be faithful to them in their absence. The men pretend to depart for war, but come back in disguise and try to woo each other’s girlfriends. They seem to succeed, and the trick is revealed. Each couple is reunited... or are they?
FULL SYNOPSIS
ACT I
Don Alfonso goads two young men into a wager regarding their fiancées’ fidelity. Ferrando and Guglielmo are convinced their lovers–Dorabella and Fiordiligi, respectively–are true, and agree to test the women’s faithfulness through trickery. The men agree to do everything Don Alfonso says to pull off their ruse.
Sisters Dorabella and Fiordiligi are met by Don Alfonso. He tells them that their fiancés have been recalled to military duty. The two soldiers arrive to bid their unhappy fiancées farewell. The sisters are inconsolable. Once the men have departed, their maid Despina suggests that Dorabella and Fiordiligi amuse themselves in the meantime by meeting other men. The women refuse to be unfaithful to their lovers.
Don Alfonso speaks privately with Despina, enlisting her aid in introducing two prospective lotharios to the sisters. He then presents to Despina two “Albanians,” who are none other than Guglielmo and Ferrando in disguise. When Fiordiligi and Dorabella arrive, the men proclaim their affection. The women demand that the strangers leave their house.
Later that day, the Albanians burst into the garden where the two sisters lament the absence of their sweethearts. The men drink what they claim is poison, expressing their wish to die for love. A doctor arrives (Despina in disguise) and “revives” the two men.
INTERMISSION
ACT II
Despina attempts to persuade Dorabella and Fiordiligi that they should be more receptive to the Albanians’ advances. The sisters reluctantly agree that a flirtation might prove a welcome distraction in the absence of their fiancés. The men return once more to serenade the sisters, and this time Dorabella exchanges words of love with Guglielmo – to his astonishment. Ferrando has less luck with Fiordiligi.
Ferrando is told of his lover’s betrayal and vows revenge. Don Alfonso reminds the soldiers that the test is not over yet.
Dorabella confesses her new fondness for her Albanian to Despina. Fiordiligi admits that she also has feelings for her Albanian (the disguised Ferrando), but scolds her sister’s lack of control and vows to remain true to her fiancé. But when Ferrando returns, secretly accompanied by Guglielmo and Don Alfonso, Fiordiligi yields to his advances.
Ferrando and Guglielmo lament their lovers’ betrayal and express a desire for revenge. Don Alfonso urges the now bitterly disillusioned soldiers to marry the women.
Wedding preparations are quickly made. Don Alfonso produces a notary – Despina in disguise – who in turn produces a marriage contract. A drum is heard, signaling the return of the soldiers. Having hastily removed their disguises, Ferrando and Guglielmo appear and feign outrage at the incriminating scene. But when they put on their Albanian disguises, the whole truth comes out.
In the final chorus all four lovers, in the spirit of reconciliation, sing hopefully of accepting life as it presents itself and maintaining a sense of humour. But will they be able to when faced with an uncertain future?
Production photos: All a scene from the Canadian Opera Company’s production of Così fan tutte, 2019; (l-r) Tracy Dahl as Despina and Russell Braun as Don Alfonso; (l-r) Kirsten MacKinnon as Fiordiligi and Emily D’Angelo as Dorabella, all photos by Michael Cooper.
Overture
Trio: "Soave sia il vento" ("Gentle be the breeze")
Fiordiligi, Dorabella and Don Alfonso bid farewell to Guglielmo and Ferrando, wishing them a good voyage.
Aria: "Come scoglio" ("Like a rock")
Fiordiligi tells the suitors their attentions are not welcome. Her faithfulness to her lover is like a rock in a tempest.
Music credit: Mozart's Così fan tutte. Amanda Roocroft (Fiordiligi), Rosa Mannion (Dorabella), Carlos Feller (Don Alfonso), and John Eliot Gardiner (conductor) with the English Baroque Soloists, 1993. Deutsche Grammophon
Kirsten MacKinnon, Emily D'Angelo and Russell Braun, February 2019
An excerpt of Mozart's "Soave sia il vento" from Così fan tutte, featuring Kirsten MacKinnon, Emily D'Angelo, and Russell Braun. Bernard Labadie conducts the COC Orchestra.
Ben Bliss, February 2019
An excerpt of Ferrando's Act I aria, "Un'aura amorosa," from Mozart's Così fan tutte, featuring tenor Ben Bliss. Bernard Labadie conducts the COC Orchestra.
Kirsten MacKinnon and Emily D'Angelo, February 2019
An excerpt of "Ah guarda, sorella" from Mozart's Così fan tutte, featuring soprano Kirsten MacKinnon and mezzo-soprano Emily D'Angelo. Bernard Labadie conducts the COC Orchestra.
Kirsten MacKinnon and Emily D'Angelo, December 2018
Soprano Kirsten MacKinnon and mezzo-soprano Emily D'Angelo met while performing in the COC's The Magic Flute. Now they're reuniting as sisters in Mozart's Così fan tutte.
OPERA SCHOOL
Day 1. Science Class, Toronto Star - February 2014
Let's make electricity and test the laws of attraction in the props room where experiments are created and tested by Wulf Higgins.
Day 2. Industrial Arts, Toronto Star - January 2014
David Retzleff has an unusual assignment: how to make a giant curio cabinet out of 37 bite-size bits that can be moved from a watermelon warehouse to the theatre?
Day 3. Drama Class, Toronto Star - January 2014
Director Atom Egoyan shows the female students how to act "tipsy", emote and flirt, while they practice their diction and singing under language coach Manuela Scarci.
Day 4. Fashion Design, Toronto Star - January 2014
Mile-high blue wigs, with boats on top, sail out of the wigs and make-up division.
Day 5. Music Class, Toronto Star - January 2014
Music Director Johannes Debus plays the piano and leads the orchestra in rehearsal while musicians use pencils, with erasers (watch those mistakes), to make notes on their music sheets.
“Eye-popping production, with its giant butterflies and colossal blue wigs.” Toronto Star
“It’s a big deal for [Emily D’Angelo] to land this leading role in Atom Egoyan's production of one of Mozart's last operas.” The Globe and Mail
Director's Notes: Così fan tutte
For those familiar with Così fan tutte, this production will be immediately surprising in two ways. (…) In Così, librettist Lorenzo da Ponte shows us that while reason and clear thinking is to be held above all else, it is often made unreliable because of shifting emotion.
READ MORE
Margaret Cormier Q&A: Hearing Familiar Music with New Ears
First sparking criticism for its scandalous immorality, now interrogated for the way it paints its female leads, the opera continues to be a springboard for conversation. With the piece making a high-profile return to the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts this winter, we wanted to dig deeper with musicologist Margaret Cormier...
READ MORE
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On stage at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, 145 Queen St. W., Toronto.
Performance time is approximately three hours and 25 minutes, including one intermission.
ACT I: 90 minutes / Intermission 25 minute / ACT II: 90 minutes.
Sung in Italian with English SURTITLESTM
CAST AND CREATIVE TEAMS
Fiordiligi Kirsten MacKinnon
Dorabella Emily D’Angelo
Guglielmo Johannes Kammler
Ferrando Ben Bliss
Despina Tracy Dahl
Don Alfonso Russell BraunConductor Bernard Labadie
Director Atom Egoyan
Set & Costume Designer Debra Hanson
Lighting Designer Michael Walton
Price Family Chorus Master* Sandra Horst*Sandra Horst and the COC Chorus are generously underwritten by Tim & Frances Price
Production originally made possible in part by PHILIP DECK & KIMBERLEY BOZAK BMO FINANCIAL GROUP
With the COC Orchestra and Chorus -
SYNOPSIS IN A MINUTE
Don Alfonso bets two young men that their fiancées would not be faithful to them in their absence. The men pretend to depart for war, but come back in disguise and try to woo each other’s girlfriends. They seem to succeed, and the trick is revealed. Each couple is reunited... or are they?
FULL SYNOPSIS
ACT I
Don Alfonso goads two young men into a wager regarding their fiancées’ fidelity. Ferrando and Guglielmo are convinced their lovers–Dorabella and Fiordiligi, respectively–are true, and agree to test the women’s faithfulness through trickery. The men agree to do everything Don Alfonso says to pull off their ruse.
Sisters Dorabella and Fiordiligi are met by Don Alfonso. He tells them that their fiancés have been recalled to military duty. The two soldiers arrive to bid their unhappy fiancées farewell. The sisters are inconsolable. Once the men have departed, their maid Despina suggests that Dorabella and Fiordiligi amuse themselves in the meantime by meeting other men. The women refuse to be unfaithful to their lovers.
Don Alfonso speaks privately with Despina, enlisting her aid in introducing two prospective lotharios to the sisters. He then presents to Despina two “Albanians,” who are none other than Guglielmo and Ferrando in disguise. When Fiordiligi and Dorabella arrive, the men proclaim their affection. The women demand that the strangers leave their house.
Later that day, the Albanians burst into the garden where the two sisters lament the absence of their sweethearts. The men drink what they claim is poison, expressing their wish to die for love. A doctor arrives (Despina in disguise) and “revives” the two men.
INTERMISSION
ACT II
Despina attempts to persuade Dorabella and Fiordiligi that they should be more receptive to the Albanians’ advances. The sisters reluctantly agree that a flirtation might prove a welcome distraction in the absence of their fiancés. The men return once more to serenade the sisters, and this time Dorabella exchanges words of love with Guglielmo – to his astonishment. Ferrando has less luck with Fiordiligi.
Ferrando is told of his lover’s betrayal and vows revenge. Don Alfonso reminds the soldiers that the test is not over yet.
Dorabella confesses her new fondness for her Albanian to Despina. Fiordiligi admits that she also has feelings for her Albanian (the disguised Ferrando), but scolds her sister’s lack of control and vows to remain true to her fiancé. But when Ferrando returns, secretly accompanied by Guglielmo and Don Alfonso, Fiordiligi yields to his advances.
Ferrando and Guglielmo lament their lovers’ betrayal and express a desire for revenge. Don Alfonso urges the now bitterly disillusioned soldiers to marry the women.
Wedding preparations are quickly made. Don Alfonso produces a notary – Despina in disguise – who in turn produces a marriage contract. A drum is heard, signaling the return of the soldiers. Having hastily removed their disguises, Ferrando and Guglielmo appear and feign outrage at the incriminating scene. But when they put on their Albanian disguises, the whole truth comes out.
In the final chorus all four lovers, in the spirit of reconciliation, sing hopefully of accepting life as it presents itself and maintaining a sense of humour. But will they be able to when faced with an uncertain future?
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Production photos: All a scene from the Canadian Opera Company’s production of Così fan tutte, 2019; (l-r) Tracy Dahl as Despina and Russell Braun as Don Alfonso; (l-r) Kirsten MacKinnon as Fiordiligi and Emily D’Angelo as Dorabella, all photos by Michael Cooper.
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Opera in 10 by Stéphane Mayer: Mozart's Così fan tutte
Overture
Trio: "Soave sia il vento" ("Gentle be the breeze")
Fiordiligi, Dorabella and Don Alfonso bid farewell to Guglielmo and Ferrando, wishing them a good voyage.
Aria: "Come scoglio" ("Like a rock")
Fiordiligi tells the suitors their attentions are not welcome. Her faithfulness to her lover is like a rock in a tempest.
Music credit: Mozart's Così fan tutte. Amanda Roocroft (Fiordiligi), Rosa Mannion (Dorabella), Carlos Feller (Don Alfonso), and John Eliot Gardiner (conductor) with the English Baroque Soloists, 1993. Deutsche Grammophon -
Kirsten MacKinnon, Emily D'Angelo and Russell Braun, February 2019
An excerpt of Mozart's "Soave sia il vento" from Così fan tutte, featuring Kirsten MacKinnon, Emily D'Angelo, and Russell Braun. Bernard Labadie conducts the COC Orchestra.
Ben Bliss, February 2019An excerpt of Ferrando's Act I aria, "Un'aura amorosa," from Mozart's Così fan tutte, featuring tenor Ben Bliss. Bernard Labadie conducts the COC Orchestra.
Kirsten MacKinnon and Emily D'Angelo, February 2019An excerpt of "Ah guarda, sorella" from Mozart's Così fan tutte, featuring soprano Kirsten MacKinnon and mezzo-soprano Emily D'Angelo. Bernard Labadie conducts the COC Orchestra.
Kirsten MacKinnon and Emily D'Angelo, December 2018Soprano Kirsten MacKinnon and mezzo-soprano Emily D'Angelo met while performing in the COC's The Magic Flute. Now they're reuniting as sisters in Mozart's Così fan tutte.
OPERA SCHOOL
Day 1. Science Class, Toronto Star - February 2014Let's make electricity and test the laws of attraction in the props room where experiments are created and tested by Wulf Higgins.
Day 2. Industrial Arts, Toronto Star - January 2014
David Retzleff has an unusual assignment: how to make a giant curio cabinet out of 37 bite-size bits that can be moved from a watermelon warehouse to the theatre?
Day 3. Drama Class, Toronto Star - January 2014
Director Atom Egoyan shows the female students how to act "tipsy", emote and flirt, while they practice their diction and singing under language coach Manuela Scarci.
Day 4. Fashion Design, Toronto Star - January 2014
Mile-high blue wigs, with boats on top, sail out of the wigs and make-up division.
Day 5. Music Class, Toronto Star - January 2014
Music Director Johannes Debus plays the piano and leads the orchestra in rehearsal while musicians use pencils, with erasers (watch those mistakes), to make notes on their music sheets.
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“Eye-popping production, with its giant butterflies and colossal blue wigs.” Toronto Star
“It’s a big deal for [Emily D’Angelo] to land this leading role in Atom Egoyan's production of one of Mozart's last operas.” The Globe and Mail
-
Director's Notes: Così fan tutte
For those familiar with Così fan tutte, this production will be immediately surprising in two ways. (…) In Così, librettist Lorenzo da Ponte shows us that while reason and clear thinking is to be held above all else, it is often made unreliable because of shifting emotion.
READ MOREMargaret Cormier Q&A: Hearing Familiar Music with New Ears
First sparking criticism for its scandalous immorality, now interrogated for the way it paints its female leads, the opera continues to be a springboard for conversation. With the piece making a high-profile return to the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts this winter, we wanted to dig deeper with musicologist Margaret Cormier...
READ MORE
