This opera – one of the three great works to emerge from the partnership of Mozart and Da Ponte, the Viennese court poet – is an insoluble puzzle. At times it can feel like a misogynist farce; at others, an uneasy blend of comedy, betrayal and tragedy. Even the ending may register as either happy or deeply miserable. It is therefore no surprise that this revival of the 2014 co-production by English National Opera and the Metropolitan Opera is only partly successful. The evening is entertaining, but it offers only occasional glimpses of the opera’s deeper meanings, filling the stage with comic action that alternately amuses and irritates. Mozart subtitled the opera “the school for lovers”, but not many lessons are learnt here.
The action is relocated to New York, near the Coney Island fairground. Guglielmo and Ferrando are naval officers in love with two sisters, Fiordiligi and Dorabella. Their friend Don Alfonso suggests that their lovers may not be perfect – “are they angels or are they flesh and blood?” He persuades the men to join in a cruel ruse to test the women’s fidelity. They pretend to depart for naval warfare, then return in disguise and attempt to seduce the sisters. Don Alfonso is assisted by the girls’ maid, Despina, who argues for women’s freedom to love as they choose. After much absurd game-playing, the deception succeeds and the angels turn out to have feet of clay. The chastened quartet realise that true love is more complicated than romantic fantasy suggests – or perhaps not.
Before turning to the performances, it is necessary to describe the setting in more detail. The key scenes take place in a motel near the fairground and in the fairground itself, which swarms with fire-eaters, sword-swallowers, acrobats and the like. They ensure that the tricks and stratagems of the seduction plot move forward and attend to the fairground rides; the high point is the arrival of two swans from an imaginary tunnel of love. The concept is hugely inventive and visually striking, but as the opera moves towards its climax, it begins to feel excessive. This is most glaring during Fiordiligi’s wonderful Act II aria “Per pietà”, sung from an imitation hot-air balloon while a great deal of fairground business unfolds below.
All the more credit, then, to the inimitable Lucy Crowe as Fiordiligi for a magical delivery of this aria, unfazed by the bizarre setting – and indeed for the rest of her performance on the night. She is a class act in every way. American mezzo-soprano Taylor Raven was Dorabella: a promising London debut, though she does not yet seem entirely at home in Mozart’s deceptively demanding score. Joshua Blue and Darwin Prakash, as Ferrando and Guglielmo, made a convincing double act as the treacherous lovers. Blue’s lyrical tenor was particularly appealing in the sublime “Un’aura amorosa”, though both singers sounded a little underpowered in the unforgiving acoustic vastness of the Coliseum.
Ailish Tynan was a fine Despina, but as a motel chambermaid she appeared less of a confidante to the sisters than is usual. As a result, the arias in which she urges them to make hay while the men are away had less impact than they should. Andrew Foster-Williams sang Don Alfonso and was suitably manipulative, though again the voice lacked the richness of baritone needed to fill the Coliseum.
Dinis Sousa, a new name to me in the opera house, conducted a lively ENO orchestra, with moments of the Mozartian finesse that Così demands. However, there were some curious tempo choices, and at times it felt as though the staging, rather than the music, was driving the performance. The skilled ensemble of circus artists was constantly watchable and often amusing, but ultimately too distracting. An intimate opera like Così fan tutte – written for six singers and a dispensable chorus – arguably suits a smaller house better than the Coliseum. Filling such an enormous stage with constant “business” does not entirely work. The result is an enjoyable, if underpowered, evening, punctuated by fleeting moments of Mozart’s magic.
Music: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Libretto: Lorenzo Da Ponte (translated by Jeremy Sams)
Conductor: Dinis Sousa
Director: Phelim McDermott
Performers incl: Lucy Crowe, Taylor Raven, Joshua Blue and Darwin Prakash
Running time: 3 hours 20 Minutes
Dates: until 21 February 2026
Photographs: James Glossop