Così fan tutte is better than The Taming of the Shrew, but not as entertaining as Kiss Me Kate. Clearly based on the former, its central idea is that women are all the same (cos fan tutti in Italian), that is, they can’t be trusted to stay faithful. The cynical Don Alfonso sets up a kind of Big Brother House social experiment to prove to the two naive male lovers, Ferrando (Joshua Blue) and Guglielmo (Darwin Prakash), that their lovers, Fiordiligi (Lucy Crowe) and Dorabella (Taylor Raven), will indeed betray them given the chance. The two men go undercover to carry out a sting operation, and they do indeed discover that Don Alfonso is right. Women are all the same. QED. The opera seems to be pulling against itself. It’s a cynical piece of social realism, but at the same time, it’s a delightful comedy.
Mozart wants to have his cake and eat it. He is clearly taking aim at the hypocrisy of the aristocracy in eighteenth-century Vienna. But on the other hand, he needs to keep them onside as they buy the tickets for his operas. He’s biting the hand that feeds him, as it were. I’m sure many artists feel like this about their pay masters. The whiff of misogyny in Così fan tutte is buried beneath a comic facade. The opera is too long and too repetitive. I get that in the eighteenth century, people went to the opera for a big occasion. There wasn’t much else to do. But if we are not to just keep opera alive for a dwindling audience of white baby boomers, then we must bring in new audiences. Shorter, sharper versions of the repertoire are needed. Così could quite easily be staged within 90 minutes, not 200 minutes. I found the central premise problematic and the contrived happy ending unconvincing. After such knowledge, forgiveness is much more likely. That aside, there are some entertaining comic scenes and some exquisite music and singing, especially from Lucy Crowe’s Fiordiligi.
The two characters who are given license to roam and have fun are Don Alfonso and Despina. Andrew Foster-Williams revels in the role of Don Alfonso. A cross between Arthur Daly and Oberon, he manipulates and pulls the puppet strings of four hapless young lovers. But for my money, the heart and soul of the opera is Despina, the maid. Being a chambermaid, she’s seen it all and so has no illusions about human nature. Signalling her Irishness in a green dress and gentle lilt, she is wonderfully direct, subversive and clear-eyed. Self-aware, serving breakfast, she remarks mockingly, “The aristocracy get the hot chocolate, I get the smell”. She urges the two tortured lovers to “enjoy the contradictions”, play the game, and have some fun. She is the comic and satiric centre of the show. Cosi fan tutte is said to be a satire on love, lust and loyalty. Well, if so, then Despina is the central protagonist. Worth the price of admission just to see her.
The four young loves are, in a sense, victims and puppets of Don Alfonso and Despina. They, as it were, act out a pre-given script. Lucy Crowe’s Fiordiligi is perhaps the most complex of the four. As she says in a state of bewilderment to Dorabella, “we have changed in the course of a day”. She is given the opera’s supreme moment of tormented passion. I’m not sure Phelim McDermott’s “Coney Island” setting really adds anything to Così. “Distracted from distraction by distraction,” said T S Eliot. This ENO production distracts us from the opera with yet another version of escapism. It’s unnecessary. I get that it’s meant to suggest the permissive space of the seaside for illicit and flirtatious behaviour. On the contrary, I found it distracting. It took my eyes away from the four young lovers. I would be fascinated to compare it with an empty stage production. My guess is the latter would make the opera clearer. Less is more. I kept one eye on the conductor, Dinis Sousa. His eyes constantly moved back and forth between the stage and the pit. He was alive to every nuance, every second of every minute of the performance. Nothing escaped his watchful intensity.
Review by John O’Brien
Experience all the fun of the fair in Mozart‘s Italian comedy opera Così fan tutte, where things aren’t quite what they seem for two loved-up couples, who find themselves taking the ultimate relationship test.
Packed with witty twists, sparkling arias and Mozart’s signature charm, this timeless opera paints a whimsical yet poignant picture of love, trust and temptation in a way that is both heartwarming and delightfully entertaining.
Lucy Crowe – Fiordiligi
Taylor Raven – Dorabella
Joshua Blue – Ferrando
Darwin Prakash – Guglielmo
Andrew Foster-Williams – Don Alfonso
Ailish Tynan – Despina
Senayt Aesfa Amare, Bendy Bendini, Jessica Catherine, Leah Debrincat, Tommaso Di Vincenzo, Ben Goffe, Alex Heaton, Duncan Meadows, Megan Millie, Robert Penny, Fatemeh Sarebani, Lilly SnatchDragon – Skills Ensemble
Dinis Sousa – Conductor
Phelim McDermott – Director
Tom Pye – Set Designer
Laura Hopkins – Costume Designer
Paule Constable – Lighting Designer
Gary James – Revival Lighting Designer
Iskander R. Sharazuddin – Revival Skills and Movement Director
Peter Relton – Associate Director
Jeremy Sams – Translator
COSÌ FAN TUTTE
London Coliseum
6 to 21 February 2026
