Opera Graz

“Così fan tutte”: The semi-detached house as a corset

"Così fan tutte" at the Graz Opera House

(Bild: reinhard winkler)

The semi-detached house as a bourgeois love corset: director Barbara-David Brüesch relocates Mozart's "Così fan tutte" to the present day and stages the opera in Graz as a boulevard comedy.

Welcome to a suburban love cave - or is it a love hell after all? The newly in love couples Fiordiligi and Guglielmo and Dorabella and Ferrando live in adjoining semi-detached houses in Graz's "Così fan tutte". They greet each other on the way to work, watch soccer matches together on TV and celebrate a peaceful and friendly neighborhood.

At least until the moment when the slimy Don Alfonso forces the two henpecked heroes of this staid togetherness to make a bet about the fidelity and steadfastness of their lovers. Together with the maid Despina, he involves the couples in a game of emotions that begins as a funny masquerade, but soon gets down to the nitty-gritty and shakes the foundations of love to the core.

Cupid prances through the semi-detached houses
Swiss director Barbara-David Brüesch and her team don't even try to create an emotionally coherent story from the - it has to be said - outrageous libretto. In the form of dancer Ann-Kathrin Adam, she has Cupid prancing symbolically through the estate and, together with Don Alfonso (solidly demonic: Wilfried Zelinka) and Despina (cunning: Ekaterina Solunya), kicks up a lot of romantic dust.

Two bourgeois couples on amorous adventures: Nikita Ivasechko, Sofia Vinnik, Corina Koller and Ted Black (from left).

(Bild: reinhard winkler)

In the first act, she and her enthusiastic ensemble take full advantage of the boulevardesque, even clownish side of the bourgeois masquerade surrounding fidelity and betrayal. In the second act, she not only visually breaks up the dreamy semi-detached houses (stage: Alain Rappaport), but also allows the love quartet to break out of their bourgeois corset and explore unexpected depths of the emotional world.

Love quartet with young voices
This quartet in Graz is cast with young voices, from which soprano Corina Koller stands out as Fiordiligi with verve and crystal-clear high notes. Nikita Ivasechko (Guglielmo) and Ted Black (Ferrando) are vocally solid, scoring above all with their enthusiasm. And Sofia Vinnik (Dorabella) is particularly convincing in the lyrical passages with her velvety mezzo.

The same can also be said of Dinis Sousa's conducting: as soon as the music shifts towards longing and doubt, he and the Graz Philharmonic Orchestra (including the opera chorus under Johannes Köhler) are able to convince with a solid sound. However, where pep and cleverness would be called for, this evening also has a few hiccups from a musical point of view.

But that doesn't change the fact that this new "Così fan tutte" in Graz is a thoroughly thrilling and entertaining overall experience - as thrilling and entertaining as an affair with your neighbor can be.