Wolfgang Amadeus MOZART (1756-1791)
Così fan Tutte
Fiordiligi – Maria Bengtsson (soprano)
Dorabella – Jurgita Adamonyté (mezzo-soprano)
Despina – Rebecca Evans (soprano)
Ferrando – Pavol Breslik (tenor)
Guglielmo – Stéphane Degout (baritone)
Don Alfonso – Sir Thomas Allen (baritone)
Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House/Thomas Hengelbrock
rec. live 7-10 September 2010, Royal Opera House, Covent Garden,
London,
Stage Director: Sir Jonathan Miller
HD 16:9, PCM Stereo & DTS-MA 5.1; All Regions
OPUS ARTE OABD7286D Blu-ray [178 mins]
This film records for posterity Jonathan Miller’s famous “Armani Così” at Covent Garden, so called because of the frequent use of that fashion house’s suits as costumes. In fact, the story goes that when the production was new in 1995 Miller had been hired by the Royal Opera to revive their pre-existing production, but he told them he could do them a completely new one at a lower cost. The Armani suits (many of which, I believe, were simply bought from high street shops) were a part of this but so, too, were Miller’s set designs. The first scene, for example, plays out before a simple white curtain, and the only other set is a plain white minimalist interior, with several heavy cloths that suggest the sisters are getting the decorators in. Instead the focus turned onto the characters, and Miller, ever a genius for directing actors, amplified the opera’s analysis of human emotions and follies.
That’s what made the production such a staple. It lasted nearly two decades: this iteration was its seventh revival, and I saw it in the theatre myself for its eighth, given as part of a complete Mozart/Da Ponte cycle during the 2012 Cultural Olympiad. So if you want 18th century frocks and wigs you should look elsewhere: instead Miller uses mobile phones, modern dress and minimalist designs. What you get instead is first rate direction of singers and a good helping of psychological insights. The men, for example, turn from respectable soldiers into free-love hippies, costumes the girls take on at the end for the fake wedding. The seeds of the girls’ fall – Dorabella’s, in particular – are sown early, and a sharp viewer can watch them being watered as the action unfolds. Furthermore, one of the advantages of a DVD/BD is that you can see close-up the expressions on all the singers’ faces, something you lose sitting far back in an auditorium, and which here grants really deep insights into how the characters are processing their torrent of emotions.
This revival had a great cast to help it along. Maria Bengtsson is a wonderful Fiordiligi, her singing sensitive, secure and deeply nuanced. Her Per pietà, for example, is both sensationally beautiful and deeply moving and, more than in most productions of Così, you are moved to sympathise with her plight as she suffers from what is tantamount to psychological torture. Jurgita Adamonyté’s Dorabella is well also sweet and light. Though she sings Smanie implaccabile on the verge of hysteria, she does it beautifully, and her tone changes to one of greater sensuality once she has given in to Guglielmo. It doesn’t do any harm that the sisters look so alike.
My favourite among the men was Stéphane Degout’s Guglielmo: his is a warm, humane baritone who sings with great beauty rather than just buffo humour. Il core vi dono in Act 2 is one of the highlights. Pavol Breslik also exhibits lovely tone, but struggles a little with breath control in Un aura amorosa, and seems to be under pressure during the later ensembles. Maybe this was just an off night for him, but he’s still lovely to hear.
Thomas Allen’s Don Alfonso featured in many of this production’s revivals, and he is a veritable duck-in-water in this film. He plays the wise old man with a heavy sense of irony and a little detachment at the emotional upheaval he is unleashing. He still had plenty of voice left when singing this performance, and he sounds both lyrical and vigorous, though the maturity he brings to the role serves the character pretty well. Rebecca Evans also plays Despina as a wiser older woman, but there is a waspish wit to her voice that gives her a sharp edge, and she holds her own very capably in the ensembles.
Thomas Hengelbrock’s acres of experience with period performance means that Mozart’s score crackles under his direction. The vocal ensembles, in particular, are a delight, the voices held in perfect balance, and the blend is used to further the drama rather than to take a break from it. The lithe Covent Garden orchestra plays brilliantly for him, with a touch of period rasp and thwack to the brass and percussion, and the natural horns deserve a special bow for their colour in Per pietà. Fortepianist Christopher Willis is clearly having a whale of a time on the continuo line and, staying on just the right side of hyperactivity, could teach the fortepianist on René Jacobs’ recording a thing or two.
Robin Lough’s video direction is also very effective, with frequent use of close-ups in what is essentially an opera of intimate subtlety. Fiordiligi’s Per pietá is done in virtually one fixed take and it’s all the more effective for it. The picture is very clear and the DTS Audio is very good in surround sound.
If I have one gripe then it’s a very strange thing to be complaining about, and that is just how good a time the audience are having! There is a lot of knowing laughter at both the surtitles and the characters’ onstage action and the cast, Allen in particular, play up to it, something I found a little annoying after a while. I’m not sure I’d want to put up with that with repeated watchings, but that’s an entirely personal thing, and you might find it otherwise, a reflection of the live energy instead.
This doesn’t quite replace my favourite Così on film, Nicholas Hyntner’s Glyndebourne production conducted by Ivan Fischer in 2006. It’s perfectly sung, gently directed and it looks great with its rococo designs. If you’re looking for a modern dress Così, however, then Miller’s is one of the best ones to go for: it’s certainly a darn sight more satisfying than Claus Guth's messy Salzburg production. Miller’s vision of the drama is humane, warm and satisfying: hard to ask for much more than that in Mozart.
Simon Thompson
