Così fan tutte


Così fan tutte, ossia La scuola degli amanti All Women Do It, or The School for Lovers), K. 588, is an Italian-language opera buffa in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart first performed on 26 January 1790 at the Burgtheater in Vienna, Austria. The libretto was written by Lorenzo Da Ponte who also wrote Le nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni.
Although it is commonly held that Così fan tutte was written and composed at the suggestion of the Emperor Joseph II, recent research does not support this idea. There is evidence that Mozart's contemporary Antonio Salieri tried to set the libretto but left it unfinished. In 1994, John Rice uncovered two terzetti by Salieri in the Austrian National Library.
The short title, Così fan tutte, literally means "So do they all", using the feminine plural to indicate women. It is usually translated into English as "Women are like that". The words are sung by the three men in act 2, scene 3, just before the finale; this melodic phrase is also quoted in the overture to the opera. Da Ponte had used the line "Così fan tutte le belle" earlier in Le nozze di Figaro.

Performance history

The first performance of Mozart's setting took place at the Burgtheater in Vienna on 26 January 1790. It was given only five times before the run was stopped by the death of the Emperor Joseph II and the resulting period of court mourning. It was performed twice in June 1790 with the composer conducting the second performance, and again in July and August. After that it was not performed in Vienna during Mozart's lifetime. The first British performance was in May 1811 at the King's Theatre, London. Così fan tutte was not performed in the United States until 1922, when it was given at the Metropolitan Opera.
According to William Mann, Mozart disliked prima donna Adriana Ferrarese del Bene, da Ponte's arrogant mistress for whom the role of Fiordiligi had been created. Knowing her idiosyncratic tendency to drop her chin on low notes and throw back her head on high ones, Mozart filled her showpiece aria "Come scoglio" with constant leaps from low to high and high to low in order to make Ferrarese's head "bob like a chicken" onstage.
The subject matter did not offend Viennese sensibilities of the time, but in the 19th and early 20th centuries was considered risqué, vulgar, and even immoral. The opera was rarely performed, and when it did appear it was presented in one of several bowdlerised versions.
After World War II it regained a place in the standard operatic repertoire and is now frequently performed.

Roles

While the use of modern fach titles and voice categories for these roles has become customary, Mozart was far more general in his own descriptions of the voice types: Fiordiligi, Dorabella, Guglielmo, Ferrando, Despina, and Don Alfonso. Occasionally these modern voice types are varied in performance practice. Don Alfonso is frequently performed by baritones such as Thomas Allen and Bo Skovhus and Dorabella is almost always performed by a mezzo-soprano. In the ensembles, Guglielmo's music lies lower than Alfonso's, and accordingly has been performed by basses such as James Morris and Wladimiro Ganzarolli, and Despina is occasionally performed by a mezzo, such as Cecilia Bartoli, Frederica von Stade, Agnes Baltsa and Ann Murray. Ferrando and Fiordiligi, however, can only be sung by a tenor and a soprano because of the high tessitura of their roles.

Instrumentation

The instrumentation is as follows:
Mozart and Da Ponte use the theme of "fiancée swapping", which dates back to the 13th century; notable earlier versions are found in Boccaccio's Decameron and Shakespeare's play Cymbeline. Elements from Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew are also present. Furthermore, it incorporates elements of the myth of Procris as found in Ovid's Metamorphoses, vii.

Act 1

Scene 1: A coffeehouse
In a cafe, Ferrando and Guglielmo express certainty that their fiancées will be eternally faithful. Don Alfonso expresses skepticism and claims that there is no such thing as a faithful woman. He lays a wager with the two officers, claiming he can prove in a day's time that those two, like all women, are fickle. The wager is accepted: the two officers will pretend to have been called off to war; soon thereafter they will return in disguise and each attempt to seduce the other's lover. The scene shifts to the two women, who are praising their men. Alfonso arrives to announce the bad news: the officers have been called off to war. Ferrando and Guglielmo arrive, brokenhearted, and bid farewell. As the boat with the men sails off to sea, Alfonso and the sisters wish them safe travel. Alfonso, left alone, gloatingly predicts that the women will prove unfaithful.
Scene 2: A room in the sisters' home
Despina, the maid, arrives and asks what is wrong. Dorabella bemoans the torment of having been left alone. Despina mocks the sisters, advising them to take new lovers while their betrotheds are away. After they leave, Alfonso arrives. He fears Despina will recognize the men through their disguises, so he bribes her into helping him to win the bet. The two men then arrive, dressed as mustachioed Albanians. The sisters enter and are alarmed by the presence of strange men in their home. The "Albanians" tell the sisters that they were led by love to them. However, the sisters refuse to give in. Fiordiligi asks the "Albanians" to leave and pledges to remain faithful. The "Albanians" continue the attempt to win over the sisters' hearts, Guglielmo going so far as to point out all of his manly attributes, but to no avail. Ferrando, left alone and sensing victory, praises his love.
Scene 3: A garden
ensemble, 2011
The sisters are still pining. Despina has asked Don Alfonso to let her take over the seduction plan. Suddenly, the "Albanians" burst in the scene and threaten to poison themselves if they are not allowed the chance to woo the sisters. As Alfonso tries to calm them, they drink the "poison" and pretend to pass out. Soon thereafter, a "doctor" arrives on the scene and, using magnet therapy, is able to revive the "Albanians". The men, pretending to hallucinate, demand a kiss from Dorabella and Fiordiligi who stand before them. The sisters refuse, even as Alfonso and the doctor urge them to acquiesce.

Act 2

Scene 1: The sisters' bedroom
Despina urges them to succumb to the "Albanians"' overtures. After she leaves, Dorabella confesses to Fiordiligi that she is tempted, and the two agree that a mere flirtation will do no harm and will help them pass the time while they wait for their lovers to return.
Scene 2: The garden
Dorabella and the disguised Guglielmo pair off, as do the other two. The conversation is haltingly uncomfortable, and Ferrando departs with Fiordiligi. Now alone, Guglielmo attempts to woo Dorabella. She does not resist strongly, and soon she has given him a medallion in exchange for a heart-shaped locket. Ferrando is less successful with Fiordiligi, so he is enraged when he later finds out from Guglielmo that the medallion with his portrait has been so quickly given away to a new lover. Guglielmo at first sympathises with Ferrando, but then gloats, because his betrothed is faithful.
Scene 3: The sisters' room
Dorabella admits her indiscretion to Fiordiligi. Fiordiligi, upset by this development, decides to go to the army and find her betrothed. Before she can leave, though, Ferrando arrives and continues his attempted seduction. Fiordiligi finally succumbs and falls into his arms. Guglielmo is distraught while Ferrando turns Guglielmo's earlier gloating back on him. Alfonso, winner of the wager, tells the men to forgive their fiancées. After all: "Così fan tutte"—"All women are like that".
Scene 4:
The scene begins as a double wedding for the sisters and their "Albanian" grooms. Despina, in disguise as a notary, presents the marriage contract, which all sign. Directly thereafter, military music is heard in the distance, indicating the return of the officers. Alfonso confirms the sisters' fears: Ferrando and Guglielmo are on their way to the house. The "Albanians" hurry off to hide. They return as the officers, professing their love. Alfonso drops the marriage contract in front of the officers, and, when they read it, they become enraged. They then depart and return moments later, half in Albanian disguise, half as officers. Despina has been revealed to be the notary, and the sisters realize they have been duped. All is ultimately forgiven, as the entire group praises the ability to accept life's unavoidable good times and bad times.

Recordings