Review: Così fan tutte"Is everybody happy? Fresh production of Cosi fan tutte has audience thinking"Star-Ledger (Bradley Bambarger) Cosi fan tutte roughly translates as "all women are like that," although the subtitle of this sex comedy – The School for Lovers – refers to a lesson that's equal opportunity. Women may be fickle, as the story goes, but men are pompous and cruel. And both sexes are deluded. Mozart's third alchemical collaboration with librettist Lorenzo da Ponte (after The Marriage of Figaro and Don Giovanni) is his most emotionally complex opera. The ending that was ambiguous enough to make Victorian moralists uncomfortable feels about right in our more uncertain world, with Cosi fan tutte increasingly popular. The reasons for this popularity were apparent at Friday's sold-out opening of New Jersey Opera Theater's summer season, the Princeton-based company's second in the McCarter's 380-seat Berlind Theatre. The humor remains as fresh as new paint; and, though Da Ponte's titular argument sounds misogynistic, Mozart's infinitely shaded score takes the edge off, sympathizing with everyone's foibles. Cosi fan tutte can make for a perfect night at the theater, getting an audience member to both think and feel – and not necessarily in agreement with the person in the next seat. The ingredients came together well enough on Friday, with New Jersey Opera Theater convening a cast of up-and-coming singers that obviously delighted the audience…. Princeton favorite Matthew Curran sang Alfonso's famous lines with jaded relish…. …Jason Kaminski's Guglielmo and Fabian Robles' Ferrando warmed up in their mustachioed Turkish get-ups, with Kaminski suave and Robles vulnerable. Emily Newton's almost-steadfast Fiordiligi and Fenna Ograjensek's up-for-it Dorabella were generally appealing. Their portrayals will surely grow in subtlety, although Newton's way with Fiordiligi's conflicted recitatives was already fiery…. The standout performance was by minx-like Elisabeth Russ as the girls' shrewd maid, Despina. The California native's voice, if small, has real zing. A natural comedian, she also showed a subtle theatrical intelligence, never allowing the character's weakness for money to overshadow her ethical superiority to Alfonso…. …the chamber-sized orchestra is at least an evocative reminder of what audiences might have heard in Mozart's day. …in its fifth year, the ambitious company has become a smooth, entertaining operation. And the Berlind Theatre is an ideally intimate venue for opera. |
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