Così fan tutte

The bet made by the seasoned cynic Don Alfonso, which is the starting point, leads to a classic display of macho behaviour. The smugness of the two friends Guglielmo and Ferrando regarding the fidelity of their fiancées Fiordiligi and Dorabella jeopardises their seemingly solid but budding love affairs. Nobody seems to have any control over how this adventure will end. Here Mozart, as never before, unearths the secrets of the human psyche, both in the vocals and in his orchestral idiom. Seriousness and fancy, truth and play, euphoria and melancholy all sit very close. In presenting this production of Così fan tutte this season, Opera Vlaanderen is launching a unique revival of Guy Joosten’s successful Mozart-Da Ponte cycle.

The musical director is Umberto Benedetti Michelangeli, a specialist in the Viennese Classical School and a former guest at Opera Vlaanderen, where he conducted Die Schöpfung, Die Entführung aus dem Serail and Mozart's Mass in C minor. For this revival we have assembled an energetic sextet packed with highly-successful international young Mozart talent.