Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart COSI FAN TUTTE. Fiordiligi. soprano. Fernando. Ben Bliss. tenor

Transcription

1

2 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart COSI FAN TUTTE Ferrando and Guglielmo, two friends, doubt the fidelity of their respective fiancées, Dorabella and Fiordiligi. In order to put a good end to all their questions, they make believe to the two sisters that they go to the army to actually disguise themselves and seduce them under false identities... A winning cast comes together for Phelim McDermott s clever vision of Mozart s comedy about the sexes, set in a carnival-esque, funhouse environment inspired by 1950s Coney Island complete with bearded ladies, fire eaters, and a Ferris wheel. Manipulating the action are the Don Alfonso of Christopher Maltman and the Despina of Tony Award winner Kelli O Hara, with Amanda Majeski, Serena Malfi, Ben Bliss, and Adam Plachetka as the pairs of young lovers who test each other s faithfulness. David Robertson conducts. Conductor David Robertson Fiordiligi Amanda Majesky soprano Dorabella Serena Malfi Mezzo soprano Despina Kelli O Hara soprano Fernando Ben Bliss tenor Guglielmo Adam Plachetka Bass-baryton Don Alfonso Christofer Maltman baryton DATE : Saturday 31th March 2018 Time : 18h25 Opera in 2 acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

3 COSI FAN TUTTE World premiere: Burgtheater, Vienna, 26th January The third and final collaboration between Mozart and librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte is a fascinating paradox: a frothy comedy of manners with an intensely dark take on human nature; an old story (it has antecedents in Boccaccio, Shakespeare, and Cervantes, among others) with a startlingly modern tone; and a beautiful score depicting questionable behavior. Così fan tutte was only moderately successful at its premiere and remained just outside the standard repertoire for more than a century. Così still poses unique challenges, and correspondingly unique rewards, for the public today. Every possible impression of love from the loftiest to the basest is explored in this extraordinary opera. Setting L'opéra se déroule à Naples. Avec sa beauté naturelle et son ensoleillement abondant, la ville est devenue l'équivalent d'une destination touristique au 18ème siècle. Il a été suggéré que la prépondérance des instruments à vent dans la partition est censée évoquer l'atmosphère ventée du littoral.

4 Music Like any other opera buffa, Così fan tutte portrays contemporary characters from the period of its creation, the second half of the eighteenth century, noble figures or bourgeois and servants, in a comic mode. From the formal point of view, the work is presented as a succession of tunes and ensembles (duets, trios, quartets, etc.) all numbered in the score and linked together by recitatives, that is, say dialogues where the song follows the accents and inflections of the text on a harpsichord accompaniment. The opening of Così fan tutte is written after the rest of the score. The atmosphere of the work is immediately created from the first bars, with two major C chords, strong and tutti, like the beatings announcing the beginning of a play. The beginning and the end of the play make Andante the theme that Alfonso sings in the opera on the lyrics "Così fan tutte" (Act II, Scene 13). The heart of the Overture, played presto, is built on a theme already heard in The Marriage of Figaro, just when the character of Basil exclaims precisely "Così fan tutte the beautiful" (Trio, No. 7). Mozart intimately binds the text and the music, which become one, amusing to insert a few winks from one work to another. The contrast is permanent between the shades forte and piano, subito: the music seems to jump, from one desk to another. The ensembles have a particular importance in the comic genre and represent the main formal innovation of the buffa style compared to the seria style. In Così, there are 19 sets against only 12 solo tunes. And among the sets, the final acts are long-numbered: each time it is a single number articulated in different sets chained. Thus, the finale of Act I and Act II constitute highly developed scenes, of which Mozart had the secret since the famous finale of Act II of the Marriage of Figaro.

5 Composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on January 27, 1756 in Salzburg. Gifted child, and outstanding composer, the "young prodigy" has raised many myths around his person. Here are 10 (real) little anecdotes about the composer of the Requiem, and so many famous operas such as the Magic Flute and Don Giovanni. When you were 6, you learned to read, Mozart, he composed minuets. Son of Leopold Mozart, composer and music teacher, Mozart bathes in music from his childhood. His genius is detected very early: barely 3 years old, the young Wolfgang has the absolute ear and probably an eidetic memory that allows him to memorize a large number of sounds in a very short time. Before learning to read, count or write, Mozart can decipher a score and play it perfectly. Unsurprisingly, the prodigy of music begins to compose at 6 years old. He seeks "notes that love each other" and writes his first works: five menuets, a sonata and an allegro in Between his 7 and 8 years, Mozart composes more than fifty works. At the age of 11, he attacked his first opera: Apollo and Hyacinthus, which he finished on May 13, He hears Allegri's Miserere, thinks it's nice, and transcribes the score to his ear. His father takes him to Italy when he is 14 years old. They attend the matinees of Wednesday, April 11, Holy Week in the Sistine Chapel, unique opportunity to hear the Miserere Allegri. A work that the Vatican wishes to keep preciously. At this time, only the choristers have access to the score and any attempt at transcription is punishable by excommunication. The impertinent Mozart, charmed by this heavenly song, rewrote the work the same evening and returns to the chapel on Good Friday to refine his transcription. This story, told in many letters, makes jealous accusing Mozart of stealing the score... He hated the nobility. In Salzburg, Mozart obtained the title of concertmaster at an early age. Under the orders of the prince-archbishops Schrattenbach then Colloredo, he composed sacred works. A role that deprives him of his creative freedoms. At the age of 20, he left Salzburg to find another job, to no avail. Forced to return to Salzburg to recover his work, Mozart is at his head: he behaves like a child with the prince-archbishop Colloredo who calls him a thug and a moron. This difficult collaboration is explained by his contempt for the nobility. In a letter written in 1777, Mozart criticizes arranged marriages of high society:

6 "Nobles should not be married out of taste or love but only out of interest, and according to all sorts of secondary considerations. Besides, it would not be at all for these high characters to love their wife more than once, once she has done her duty and brought into the world a big male heir. " The magic flute is a Masonic opera (yes, Mozart was a freemason). In 1773, Mozart discovered Freemasonry and on December 14, 1784, he was introduced to the box of the beneficence. When he composed the Magic Flute in 1791, Mozart had been in the milieu for several years. He finds there a source of inspiration. The famous opera is also called "Masonic Opera" because it represents the initiatory stages of Freemasons. When he composes this work, Mozart creates a double reading: one for the layman, inspired by the German model of Singspied (a sort of opera-comic), the other for the initiate, with Masonic symbols both in music and in music. the characters and the story. Mozart was riddled with debts. If no one clearly explains the origin of these debts, Mozart borrows and spends all the time and without limit. He even comes close to a judicial sentence that could have ruined him, but especially to break his pride. His debts he accumulates with his relatives and even with his students, as with Prince Lichnowsky. This gentleman from the Austrian imperial court is trying to take Mozart to court. In 1789, he attacked the young composer in court to recover his money. The story will never tell us how Mozart got out of this affair but it turns out that everyone has been silent about this unfortunate episode that has fallen into oblivion. Mozart has made enemies. In the Freemasonic lodges, in the nobility or because of his debts, but Salieri was not part of it. The Italian musician was just a little jealous. When the emperor orders Salieri Cosi Fan Tutte, he is unable to compose it. Mozart takes over and writes the work that we know today. To be "dubbed" in this way by a young composer who, sometimes, does it at his head, may displease, but never the two men have fought battle. At the burial of Mozart, a handful of people attend the ceremony among which: Salieri. He marries Constanze without the consent of his father. On August 4, 1782 in St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, Mozart married Constanze Weber. Her father learns it by mail and does not accept this marriage. He is afraid for his son: a wedding can keep him away from music. From that day, Leopold moves away from Mozart. Geographically first because he keeps his position in Salzburg while his son settles permanently in Vienna, and sentimentally because he disapproves of this choice. The father and the son will meet again only twice before Leopold dies in Mozart died obese. Already he was not very tall (1 meter 52), Mozart was also big. We imagine a Mozart on his deathbed, trying to write his Requiem, and it's true. Became obese towards the end of his life, the composer is forced to stay in bed. Of the 140 causes (established by specialists) of his death, two remain however the most plausible: a death by rheumatic fever or a renal insufficiency. Observations much less epic than death by poisoning, long advanced over the centuries.

7 Synopsis Act I The United States, during the 1950s. Two officers, Ferrando and Guglielmo, are taking a vacation with their fiancées, sisters Dorabella and Fiordiligi, at the Skyline Motel near the Pleasure Garden. At a nightclub, the boys new friend, the cynical Don Alfonso, tells them of his doubts in the fidelity of women. He offers them a wager: He will prove that their lovers will be unfaithful, like all other women. The boys defend their fiancées and accept the challenge. The next morning, Fiordiligi and Dorabella daydream about their lovers while strolling along the boardwalk. Alfonso arrives and explains that the boys have been called away to war. After saying goodbye to their lovers, the girls are inconsolable. Despina, a maid at the motel, complains about how much work she has to do. When the sisters return heartbroken, she encourages the girls to enjoy their freedom and find new lovers, but Fiordiligi and Dorabella cannot fathom such a betrayal. Don Alfonso bribes Despina to help him introduce the sisters to two infatuated young friends of his, who are in fact Guglielmo and Ferrando in disguise. When the new suitors make advances toward the sisters, the girls are outraged and refuse to listen to any declarations of love. The men are confident of winning the bet. Alfonso has another plan: The young men pretend to take poison in order to gain the sisters sympathy. Despina and Alfonso go off to fetch help, leaving the two girls to care for the strangers. Despina reappears disguised as Doctor Magnetico and pretends to heal the boys with her famous vibration machine. When Ferrando and Guglielmo request kisses in order to fully recover, the sisters again reject them, but it is clear that they re beginning to show interest in the strangers.

8 Act II Despina chastises Fiordiligi and Dorabella for not knowing how to deal with men. The sisters decide that perhaps Despina is right there can be no harm in amusing themselves with the handsome strangers. They choose which man they d like, each picking the other s fiancée. Don Alfonso brings the girls into the Pleasure Garden to meet the boys again. In the fairground, Dorabella responds quickly to the disguised Guglielmo s advances. She accepts a gift and relinquishes her locket with Ferrando s portrait. Fiordiligi, however, refuses to yield to Ferrando, although she admits to herself that her heart has been won. Ferrando is certain that they have won the wager. Guglielmo is happy to hear that Fiordiligi has been faithful to him, but when he shows his friend the portrait he took from Dorabella, Ferrando is furious. Gugliemo asks Alfonso to pay him his half of the winnings, but Alfonso reminds him that the day is not yet over. Fiordiligi condemns Dorabella for her betrayal and resolves to leave the Pleasure Garden and join her beloved at the front. Ferrando suddenly appears and declares his love for Fiordiligi with renewed passion. While Guglielmo watches helplessly, she finally accepts. Guglielmo and Ferrando are distraught at their fiancées infidelity. Don Alfonso encourages the boys to forgive the women and marry them. After all, their behavior is only human nature. The sisters have agreed to marry the young strangers, and Despina, impersonating a lawyer, does the honors. Alfonso suddenly announces that Guglielmo and Ferrando have returned from battle. In panic, the sisters hide their intended husbands, who return as their real selves and are horrified to discover the marriage contracts. Finally, the boys reveal the entire charade, and Fiordiligi and Dorabella ask forgiveness. Alfonso bids the lovers learn their lesson. Next broadcast of the Metropolitan Opera New York LUISA MILLER Giuseppe Verdi Saturday 14th April h00