This Saturday’s opera broadcast, at 1 p.m. on Nov. 15, is a special collaboration with our partners at the Academy of Vocal Arts, as we present one of their winter 2025 performances of Mozart’s Così fan tutte.
Così is the third in Mozart’s trilogy of collaborations with Lorenzo Da Ponte, the first two being Le nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni. Many say the sheer beauty of Così’s score surpasses even that of its predecessors. The plot, though, is not without controversy: the opera was effectively blacklisted throughout the 19th century and well into the 20th, and these days, directors and audiences are careful to navigate the misogyny at the surface of the opera, starting with the title and supposed premise of the show, which translates to “all women do so” — that is, cheat.
Ferrando and Dorabella are a couple, as are Guglielmo and Dorabella’s sister Fiordiligi. The men have a mentor, Don Alfonso, and the women have a maid, Despina. Don Alfonso suggests one day to the men that, as starry-eyed as they are about their lovers, they are capable of infidelity, and wagers that he can prove it if the men do as he says. He fabricates a scenario where the men are called off to war, disguises them, and has them try to win over each other’s fiancee. Eventually, through a series of comic machinations and with help from Despina, they succeed, which leads Don Alfonso to encourage them to marry their fiancees knowing that “così fan tutte.” The disguises are removed, Don Alfonso gets a brief reprimand to which he responds that he’s taught… a lesson of sorts, then everyone sings a song and the opera ends happily.
Except, what just happened? We’re supposed to believe that this manipulative game Don Alfonso plays is supposed to be proof that all women cheat, when they were clearly duped, if not coerced into doing so? What exactly happens in the show besides this farce? Well, to answer that question, we need to take a deeper dive into the characters. Mezzo Alla Yarosh, who played Dorabella, and tenor Joshua Berg, who played Ferrando, joined me to do just that — we had an extensive conversation, an abridged version of which will be our intermission feature.
“When we start singing a duet,” says Yarosh, “I’m singing, oh, this fire in his eyes… It’s all very surface-level. But nothing about the truth of the characters, really. And I think throughout the show, with the swap that they do, they actually get to see each other in the real, who they actually are.”
Berg adds: “I think that they, when we see this swap happen, they actually have to become emotionally intimate in a way that they haven't been before at all with their original partners. And as a result, the reality of what's going on, I think, hits everybody in a really profound way.”
If we take a closer look at our two couples, their relationships are quite juvenile — they are very young, after all. They might not be out of place in a reality dating show. All the thoughts we hear from them about each other concern fidelity, beauty, and virility, and then the game begins. Despina is aware of as much; she’s the most enlightened character in the show, and advises the ladies that they needn’t yet be tied down. On the other hand, Don Alfonso has the most overtly misogynistic lines in the show, which we see trickle down to Ferrando and Guglielmo. They have much more to learn, and by the end of the opera, they have indeed learned something; things have changed between the couples, but they’re still young, and their stories are far from over.
This opera, with its many layers to uncover, can also simply be a fun comedy accompanied by some beautiful music. AVA Assistant Conductor Robert Kahn, who led this performance, said that “People still laugh at the jokes, but also the music at the same time has such sincerity to it. There are moments of comedy and joy, but there are such moments of intense emotion and struggle that I don't know many operas, or maybe any, that have quite this combination.” Dig as deep as you like, and you’ll be treated to some of the best vocal performances around courtesy of the artists at AVA.
CAST
Joshua Berg, tenor (Ferrando)
Joshua Klein, baritone (Guglielmo)
Nan Wang, bass-baritone (Don Alfonso)
Veronica Richer, soprano (Fiordiligi)
Alla Yarosh, mezzo-sopano (Dorabella)
Beautiful Sheriff, soprano (Despina)
Tune in to WRTI 90.1 FM at 1 p.m. on Nov. 15, or stream at wrti.org, on the WRTI mobile app, and on your smart speaker to hear the Academy of Vocal Arts’ winter 2025 production of Così fan tutte.
