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The Rice Thresher
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Elissa Wagman thresher staff Mozart's music and two masquerading Albanians contribute to a light comedy An 18th-century farce involving four young lovers, a feisty maid and two "Albanian" suitors in disguise sounds like it has a light, insubstantial and perhaps dubiously funny plot. However, in the hands of Mozart and his wonderful librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte, the Houston Grand Opera's production of CosŤ fan Tutte ("All Women Do the Same" or "The School for Lovers") is a delight. Running Feb. 2, 4 (matinee) and 10 at the Wortham Theater, CosŤ is a funny comic opera with lovely music. CosŤ is the story of the cynical, worldly Don Alfonso, an Italian gentleman, and his friends Ferrando and Guglielmo, young soldiers. Ferrando and Guglielmo are engaged to the sisters Fiordiligi and Dorabella who, Alfonso suggests, may be subject to female fickleness and infidelity when tempted by other men. At both men's denial of the possibility of unfaithfulness in their fianc‚es, Alfonso proposes a bet with the soldiers designed to tempt the girls: Ferrando and Guglielmo are to dress up as Albanian suitors and attempt to woo Fiordiligi and Dorabella. Aided by the girls' feisty maid, Despina, each "Albanian" sets out to court the other's fianc‚e, confident that the girls will remain faithful. Otherwise, Ferrando and Guglielmo will owe Alfonso money. In the course of the ruse, however, nothing turns out as Ferrando and Guglielmo might have expected, and both couples learn lessons about love and faithfulness. As it seems to be the case quite consistently, the Houston Grand Opera does a fantastic job with this production. Perhaps some of the most beautiful opera music ever written is performed by the HGO with beautiful singing. The four lovers, played by Americans Christine Goerke, Joyce DiDonato, Richard Croft and Nathan Gunn, have strong but appropriately light voices. More important, since CosŤ is an ensemble opera in which the leads sing primarily in duet, trio and quartet with one another as opposed to solo, the singers perform together in a graceful and natural manner. Their voices are well-suited and well-matched for ensemble singing throughout the production. Since CosŤ is a comic opera, the quality of the acting is more important than it might be in other operas. Fortunately, in the HGO production the honey-voiced singers also do an excellent job playing comic roles. Judith Christin, in particular, singing the role of the crafty maid Despina, creates a genuinely funny character replete with clever one-liners. Indeed, all of the characters do an admirable job, with facial expression and gesture, of presenting the clever and funny aspects of Da Ponte's libretto and Mozart's score. The costumes are generally nice, especially those of the faux Albanians. The set and lighting are appropriate, though CosŤ fan Tutte is not an opera in which the set plays a terribly important role; the music and acting are much more important. The orchestra, however, is at times too loud for the singers, and some of the woodwind and brass players seemed to tire as the evening goes on, becoming less accurate in the second act. Despite these aspects of the performance, the HGO does a wonderful job with CosŤ. The production brings across the sparkle, humor and beauty of Mozart's perfectly constructed masterpiece.
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