COMPOSERS: Mozart
LABELS: Virgin Classics
ALBUM TITLE: Cos“ fan tutte
WORKS: Così fan tutte
PERFORMER: Erin Wall, Elina Garanca, Stéphane Degout, Shawn Mathey, Barbara Bonney, Ruggero Raimondi; Arnold Schönberg Chor; Mahler CO/Daniel Harding; dir. Patrice Chéreau (Aix-en-Provence, 2005).
CATALOGUE NO: 344 7169
PRESENTATION: ***
The problem with Così fan tutte has
always been how to reconcile its
subtle and troubling exploration of
human emotions within its essentially
comic mode. Patrice Chéreau’s 2005
Aix staging more or less jettisons
comedy. Set backstage in an Italian
theatre (a self-conscious reference to
the director’s own operatic debut, in
Spoleto in 1969), it has the air of a
rehearsal, with the limited theatrical
paraphernalia revealed to the
audience, and performers sometimes
singing from the auditorium. It’s
an artificial construct and not an
unintelligent one, but the words
‘baby’ and ‘bathwater’ nevertheless
spring to mind.
Treating Così seriously is one
thing, but draining out its essential
good humour is another. The genius
of Mozart and Da Ponte consists in
an ability to balance comedy with
emotional pain. They can freeze
the laughter on your face, but in
Aix there was no laughter to freeze.
Harding’s conducting, too, eschews
sensuousness, wit and charm in favour of an ultra-disciplined, driven
quality. It’s impressive, but cold.
Good to very good performances
from the four young lovers, with
Shawn Mathey’s Ferrando providing
the most individual singing and
Elina Garanca’s Dorabella the
loveliest tone. Erin Wall’s Fiordiligi
and Stéphane Degout’s Guglielmo
are both highly presentable. Ruggero
Raimondi has just about enough
voice left for Don Alfonso, with
Barbara Bonney an unusually hardbitten
Despina. George Hall