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Mozart così fan tutte English Chamber Opera Rebecca Cooper (Fiordiligi) November 2009, John McIntosh Arts Centre Theatre, London Oratory School, SW6 This English Chamber Opera production really is a triumph, the first Cosi I've seen that never dragged once, was not over busy either, but full of wonderfully apt and hilarious invention, making brilliant use (and sense) of a simple, elegant set, and bringing out the best of a bunch of singers who all had their strengths....
The acrobatics and general physicality were wonderful - made me realize that the more conventional productions I've seen don't give us enough sex – the crux of the piece after all – or the chance to laugh at the characters, which Mozart and da Ponte certainly intended. The choreography is consistently brilliant - the whole arsenic-recovery sequence and the two successful-seduction duets, the sisters' half-cock workout following Despina's stunning aerobic aria, the photo sequence in the Act 2 finale, Fiordiligi hugging the chair, the use of foliage for hiding among (especially Guglielmo and Dorabella's's rhythmic branch-banging), Despina's theft on all fours, the chair battle-lines drawn up for the Act 1 finale.....etc. etc. etc. – it never flagged and there was never a clumsy moment.
In the small with very deep pit, there were some balance problems between the reduced orchestra and singers, and between the singers themselves, with Rebecca Cooper's impressive Fiordiligi often too loud in ensembles. John Andrews conducted with verve, keeping the piece moving at times almost too eagerly – especially, for me, in the Act 2 finale's heart-stopping A flat canon. But all six singers had vocal beauties enough to do justice to Mozart and acting skills worthy of Sally Burgess's brilliant production.
The question must be, now that this distinguished international singer has turned her attention to directing, what next? I hope she has even greater forces to command, and I'll certainly be there.
Alison Truefitt
Buxton Opera House and London; will be revived at Buxton in February
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