{"id":71207,"date":"2014-04-15T16:48:02","date_gmt":"2014-04-15T14:48:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gbopera.it\/?p=71207"},"modified":"2016-11-26T05:41:04","modified_gmt":"2016-11-26T04:41:04","slug":"bitter-sweet-cosi-fan-tutte","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/bitter-sweet-cosi-fan-tutte\/","title":{"rendered":"Dresden Semperoper: “Cos\u00ec fan tutte”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dresden. Semperoper. Opera Season 2013-2014\u00a0 <\/em>
\n“<\/strong>COS<\/b>\u00cc FAN TUTTE”
\n<\/b>Dramma giocosa in 2 acts libretto Lorenzo Da Ponte
\nComposer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart <\/b>
\nFiordiligi\u00a0 <\/i>EMILY DORN
\nDorabella <\/i>BARBARA SENATOR
\nFerrando\u00a0 <\/i>MERT S\u00dcNG\u00dc
\nGuglielmo\u00a0 <\/i>ZACHARY NELSON
\nDespina\u00a0\u00a0 <\/i>CAROLINA ULLRICH
\nDon Alfonso <\/i>\u00a0EVAN HUGHES
\nDresden Staatskapelle Orchestra of Saxony
\nDresden State Opera Chorus of Saxony
\nConductor Omer Meir Wellber
\n<\/b>Chorus master Wolfram Tetzner <\/b><\/b>
\nDirector Andreas\u00a0 Kriegenburg <\/b>
\nSet designer\u00a0 Harald Thor <\/b>
\nCostumes\u00a0 Andrea Schraad <\/b>
\nLighting\u00a0 Stefan Bollinger\u00a0\u00a0 <\/b>
\nDresden. 6th<\/sup> April, 2014.\u00a0\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

In recent weeks the Semperoper in Dresden has premiered a new production of Cos\u00ec fan Tutte<\/em>, the third and last of the three Italian operas written by Mozart to a libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, all of which the theatre intends to stage within the next two years. The action of these three operas revolves\u00a0 significantly around the dynamics of seduction, infidelity, betrayal and forgiveness, with its entailed scheming, and all possible ensuing comic and dramatic situations.\u00a0 No more is it so than in this last opera of the trilogy, a comedy of manners, which puts to test the strength of sentiments, and reflects\u00a0 on them with\u00a0 insight.\u00a0 This ‘dramma giocosa’ is indeed tragi-comic, wholely devoted to the various aspects and implications of the question, and deals with\u00a0 the fragility of human nature as it grapples with its own weaknesses and emotions.\u00a0 The deceived are also deceivers.\u00a0 There are also moments of enlightenment which shed light on more profound considerations, as when Fiordiligi wanting to disguise herself and go to war as a soldier, realizes that changing clothes means losing one’s own identity.
\nThe story-line revolves around the cynical Don Alfonso who wishes to prove to two officers that their fianc\u00e9es, like all women, given the chance, would be unfaithful.\u00a0 The two men let themselves be involved in a dangerous wager, to put their fianc\u00e9es to the test.\u00a0 Pretending to be called up, they depart, only to come back in disguise to court each others partner. With the manipulations of Don Alfonso and the women’s maid Despina, they eventually\u00a0 succeed. After the masquerade is exposed, the remorseful women\u00a0 return to their original partner. A bitter after taste and lingering doubt remain however\u00a0 at the end, even though Don Alfonso justifies the deceit as a necessary trial on the path to wisdom. The opera’s subtitle, La Scuola degli Amanti, or The School for Lovers, would seem to support Don Alfonso’s claim.
\nThe location in this production is not suggested.<\/strong> The set, by the designer Harald Thor<\/strong>, remains fixed. It is a\u00a0 huge disc which dips and turns like a spinning top, reflecting the twists and turns of moods and events. The first act, the act of innocence, is\u00a0 rigorously in white and completed with long billowing, white drapes which are used to play with, to entangle, and\u00a0 to hide. The slow movement of the disc during the arias, at its best gives a natural sense of ease and fluidity and allows the characters to sit with legs dangling, or lie and still be visible.\u00a0 Unfortunately the slow turning of the disc for the exits often outlasted by far the applause, creating silent lulls. In the second act, the act of betrayal and jealousy, the stage was flooded in red and the string of coloured lights authentically resembled the festive Naples of the\u00a0 true setting.\u00a0 The director, Andreas Kriegenburg<\/strong>,\u00a0 supported by the costumes and particularly the wigs, of Andrea Schraad<\/strong>, cites\u00a0 the connection between the tragi-comedy of the plot with that of silent films.\u00a0 Guglielmo and Ferrando are clones of Charlie Chaplin and their disguise entails, unbelievably, only a moustache and a jacket worn inside out.\u00a0 Fiordiligi and Dorabella are outfitted in pastel dresses, parodies of paper ornaments.\u00a0 One of the\u00a0 exaggerated wigs, is reminiscent of Mary Pickford and the other of a cartoon character who has put her hand in the electrical socket. They are portrayed as rather spoilt and\u00a0 flighty, more frivolity than innocence. In the second act with the ever growing awareness of the choices to be made, they slowly divest themselves of their accoutrements and lay themselves bare. The main problems in this dynamic is largely in the first act where the sight gags, which have their own sense of timing, have to fit in with the music. In silent films the music was written for the gag.
\nIn this performance, three of the six main roles, Fiordiligi, Ferrando and Don Alfonso, were entrusted to singers from the theatre’s young artists programme.<\/strong>\u00a0 All three acquitted themselves admirably.\u00a0 Mert S\u00fcng\u00fc’s even, full-bodied tenor gave weight and consistency to Ferrando, especially in the more dramatic moments, as exemplified in the second act cavatina, ‘Tradito, schernito.’\u00a0 His lyrical first act aria ‘Un’aura amorosa’, while more than appreciable for warmth and intensity lacked a sustained line which resulted in a certain heaviness.\u00a0 Zachary Nelson<\/strong> brought a vocal ease and comfortable stage presence to the part of Guglielmo.\u00a0 Both men’s diction was excellent, something that cannot be said of their female counterparts.\u00a0 Emily Dorn<\/strong> as Fiordiligi\u00a0 and Barbara Senator<\/strong> as Dorabella gave their best performances in the second act where their vocality found a more consonant expression in the\u00a0 introspective mood of the music.\u00a0 In the first act an overly evident vibrato blighted the diction and musical line, especially when echoed by the clearer instrumental part in the orchestra.\u00a0 Evan Hughes<\/strong> was an elegant and aloof Don Alfonso, but a touch of greater vocal characterization would have given a stronger impression of his conniving. Carolina Ullrich<\/strong>, as Despina gave a polished and engaging performance both vocally and stage-wise. She is not a light weight Despina.\u00a0 Her voice is full, her timbre round and shaded, her diction excellent, her vocal line fluid and her stage craft\u00a0 convincing.\u00a0 Hers, the only few giggles of the night.
\nThe talented conductor, Omer Meir Wellber,<\/strong> was an extroverted presence on the podium.\u00a0 Conducting without a baton, he compensated with lively balletic movements and flamboyant arm waving and\u00a0 accompanied the recitatives at the Hammerklavier, often with tempi a little pushed\u00a0 and dynamics a little too present.\u00a0 He\u00a0 didn’t always seem in control of the orchestra and at times this near perfect ensemble was out of step with the stage.\u00a0 In fact this chamber sized orchestra, the real star of the evening, seemed to have its own inner musical and expressive cohesiveness independent of the conductor.\u00a0 Throughout the evening the orchestra continued to capture the attention with its precise and sensitive playing, its attention to detail, the expressiveness of its accompaniments, refined and transparent. They served Mozart well, underlining the psychological state of the characters and the changes in the dramatic situation as he intended. The instrumental soloists emerged and discreetly re-entered the musical\u00a0 fabric, in perfect equilibrium within the musical dialogue.\u00a0 With the main body of the orchestra in Salzburg for the Easter Festival, this chamber ensemble, focused in the cleared pit, elegantly attired in tails,\u00a0 performing with obvious and buoyant involvement, was definitely the protagonist.\u00a0 The clarinets and oboes shone, the flutes were enchanting in their solo, the horns impeccable for style, beauty of sound and technical finesse. Photos Matthias Creutziger<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dresden. Semperoper. Opera Season 2013-2014\u00a0 “COS\u00cc FAN TUTTE” Dramma giocosa in 2 acts libretto Lorenzo Da Ponte Composer […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":105,"featured_media":71232,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[8175,8174,10286,10289,589,10283,10285,5433,9354,10284,10287,3158,145,253,10288],"class_list":["post-71207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-senza-categoria","tag-andrea-schraad","tag-andreas-kriegenburg","tag-barbara-senator","tag-carolina-ullrich","tag-cosi-fan-tutte","tag-dresden-semperoper","tag-emily-dorn","tag-evan-hughes","tag-foreign-readers","tag-harald-thor","tag-mert-sungu","tag-omer-meir-wellber","tag-opera-lirica","tag-wolfgang-amadeus-mozart","tag-zachary-nelson"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/105"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71207"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71207\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.studioroldo.it\/gbopera\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}