Lorenzo da Ponte and Mozart
Opera North
Grand Theatre, Leeds
February 2-April 6, 2024: 3 hrs 5 mins
(Performances on February 10, 14, 16, 21 and 23 in Leeds; March 7 & 9 at Nottingham Theatre Royal, March 14 & 16 at Newcastle Theatre Royal; March 21 & 23 at The Lowry, Salford, and April 4 & 6 New Theatre, Hull)
Opera North’s Cosi Fan Tutte, directed by Tim Albery (last seen eight years ago, the second revival then since it was first done in 2004), is still excellent value.
Albery sets it in its own period, with 18th-Century wigs and costumes, and in an anonymous place with no backdrop. But one set dominates all – a huge “camera obscura” in which all truth is to be revealed by an unblinking lens (set and costume design by Tobias Hoheisel).
The story – of two sisters and their lovers, who discover that affections can easily be simulated and then transferred to each other’s sweethearts in a single day (thus winning a bet for philosopher Don Alfonso, aided by amoral ladies’ maid, Despina) – is thus presented as a kind of Enlightenment scientific experiment, with chosen materials and a controlled environment. It works really well.
Sung in English, the opera has always depended on the audibility of Da Ponte’s clever text to make its full effect and originally was done without projected English surtitles, but these days we’re so used to them that no one could complain - and they do help one to follow the story.
Don Alfonso (Quirijn De Lang) is on the stage at the start of the overture, be-gowned as if about to impart instruction (the piece is subtitled “The School for Lovers”, after all). His dumb-show doesn’t need to last long and once the tempo picks up, he disappears and leaves it to Mozart.
Clemens Schuldt conducts with assured grace and constant vitality: he looks after his singers and obtains moments of great beauty from the orchestra.
The central pairs of young lovers are believably youthful. Alexandra Lowe (Fiordiligi) and Heather Lowe (Dorabella) - not sisters in real life - share the same training, at the Royal Northern College of Music, and their vocal mastery and ability to impart character is equally apparent.
The virtue of their casting here is that their vocal tone is quite distinct but complementary, and they play their parts as distinct and balancing personalities. Alexandra Lowe makes Fiordiligi – a role she sang at the RNCM as a student – a genuine innocent with the purest, glowing sound to match, and when her fall from grace comes we experience it with her.
Heather Lowe is more sensual from the start (she makes something noticeable of her line about Ferrando – her original lover – being “possessive”), and there’s no doubt she’s up for flirting with someone else with relatively little encouragement. Her scene with Guglielmo begins to seem as if they both know exactly what they’re up to and are enjoying the play-acting.
Anthony Gregory (Ferrando) is an English tenor of mellow, refined English tone and joins in the fun very well, albeit with a straight face. Henry Neill (who made an impression as the marrying Figaro at Clonter Opera a few years ago) is an earthier, more knowing Guglielmo, but still capable of a telling burst of emotion at the thought of his lover’s betrayal.
Gillene Butterfield enjoys herself as the sparky Despina, showing great comic timing and making the most of her “Any girl 15 or over…”.
And Quirijn De Lang maintains his air of gentle superiority, educating the youngsters in their relationship studies – and winning his bet, too.
More info and tickets here
