It would be all too easy to be overawed by this music, would it not? After all, this is the imperishable genius Mozart, and his unquestioned comic masterpiece, Cosi fan tutte.
What was so refreshing and captivating about the RSAMD's opera school's production was that, as though perfectly indifferent to the burdens of tradition and reputation, this gloriously charming comedy of amorous manners danced into life by virtue of, principally, the sheer joie de vivre of the excellent cast and the subtle yet effective staging. This is a difficult opera to carry off. A fine balance is needed between the elements of farce and pantomime, and the guile of those who are plotting must be measured against the credulity of the young ladies they deceive.
Likewise, the class structures which play across the trivial affairs of the gentle-folk could easily lapse into embittered meddling. Not so in this production, as all the forces at work combine and co-ordinate into a taut narrative. And the pay-off is tremendous: get the comedy working and the seriousness of the piece is discernible.
Like many of Mozart's operas, there is a moral world-view in the background, and it is this that cuts through as the heroines face up to what is, in effect, a moral dilemma of considerable moment.
Infidelity is not the only issue here, as the work is also an analysis of how far moral convictions can take us, and the anguish in the set-piece arias seems to be the recognition of human frailty.
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