OperaNow! #210: Mr. Oliverchev: Tear Down This Picture

Metropolitan Opera to cut Union's pay and AGMA makes dire prediction...Placebo Dominguez is defying age (and gravity)...Kiri Te Kanawa (may) be retiring again...Thomas Hampson calls in sick for Wozzeck...Fabio Luisi wants you to smell you like rain-soaked skin and Earl Grey Tea...The 3 Little Piggies is back!

This week in Oliver's Corner, Cosi Fan Tutte, Part One ossia Slut Shaming Dorabella

Plus Guess Who Died?

This week features Michael, The OC, Doug Dodson and Jenny Rivera.

Comments

[Molly]

I cannot get ENOUGH of the Fabio Luisi perfume stories. They are so cray. Also, Michael should get a job recording audio books.

Oliver, I'm not sure if you saw my tweet about it, but I'd like to put in a request for a Frau Ohne Schatten Oliver's Corner if you havn't already done one. I'm obsessed with that opera right now.

[zach]

so after all the years of apprehension oliver finally does cosi. I actually thought that doug had some interesting things to say. the met Is doing cosi very soon and there will be an hd so this is really a perfect time to do it. I'm not much of a kiri te kanawa fan. I didn't know she sang fiorgiligi. her "ah guarda sorella" was okay but it had no pep. that scene should be played like a comedy and kiri and her mezzo sounded so sedated. my fave fiordiligi is fleming on the solti recording.

[gianmarco]

Haven't finished listening yet, but Michael's Thomas Hampson impression now ranks as his best ever. I was literally laughing out loud on the subway today like a crazy person and replayed it twice. And of course Oliver had to throw in a "how thick is Goerne" joke. Way to go guys! OK, now you have to convince me about Cosi - we just had a very good new production of it in Toronto with really great singers (including Thomas Allen to sing Michael's favourite line) but I really do not like the story for its misogyny and general boringness! I mean, for me even the most absurd Italian Romantic plot is better. Agreed there's some amazing music, but at the service of what? Anyway, I'll listen and hopefully be enlightened!

[gianmarco]

Thanks for the pro-Kiri segment. I agree that in certain repertoire she really was the best of her time. I get tired of all the people who complain she was unengaged etc. in her singing. Maybe I was lucky, but the 2-3 times I saw her live on the stage (Amelia in Boccanegra; Countess in Capriccio; Countess in Figaro) I'm not sure how much more "acting" you'd want. Completely embodied these characters and it goes without saying she sang them beautifully, and...gasp...with attention to the text. She now gives masterclasses and mentors many young singers. Some of that is on youtube - she certainly doesn't come across as "dumb" [many accuse her of that too] in any of these clips.
As for Cosi - very happy you're doing it, and looking forward to future segments but for me, I really think the story prevents me from enjoying it more. Moreso than for most operas I can think of...

[Tamerlano]

I just finished listening to podcast #210. At last, Così fan tutte, my favorite opera. That said, I'm a little disappointed in the opener on my favorite opera. Così is misogynistic? Really? I know it has had that reputation, but I believe the view on that is changing. If you scratch just a little beneath the surface, you see it's a lot more complicated that that.

The full title of the opera is Così fan tutte o sia La scuola deli amanti--Women are like that, or The school for (MALE and female) lovers. Perhaps the key to the opera is Despina's "In uomini, in soldati, sperare fedelta?" In this aria she all but but laughs in the faces of the naive Dorabella and Fiordiligi that they would ever put their faith in men, let alone soldiers. Her aria clearly illustrates to the young women that men are not to be trusted and any woman who does is being foolish. Without question we learn through Despina that women are no less fickle than men! In this way, I view Despina as the female counterpart to Don Alfonso. They are both "teachers" to the women and men, respectively.

As I believe Oliver suggests, of the two sisters Fiordiligi is the introvert and the deeper thinker while Dorabella is the extravert and the more adventurous. Fiordiligi brings up some deep and thought-provoking reflection ("Per pietà, ben mio, perdona all'error d'un alma am ante") on what it means to be unfaithful to a lover. Basically she is asking, are you unfaithful for secretly thinking/fantasizing about being with another person, or is the line to unfaithfulness only crossed when thoughts and fantasies become physical actions?

The men learn more than they bargained for as well, and in addition to the outcome of the original two couples, one wonders if Ferrando and Guglielmo can possibly remain friends when the opera's over. Personally, I think that Fiordiligi and Ferrando have a shot at becoming a couple after the opera concludes, but regardless all four of the lovers will never be the same after the events that unfolded. I hate it when this opera is played as a farce because it's not at all a farce! It's a very dark comedy, and it was one whose libretto offended greatly the romantics of the 19th century because of its anti romantic libretto. Così is one of the most modern operas ever composed, and it speaks very disturbingly to today's society where hookups are easier than ever thanks to technology.

Ultimately, the opera's message seems to be saying there's more than one fish in the sea, that monogamy for life is something of fairy tales because women AND men can and do change from within (Fiordiligi, Ferrando) or they can change externally (Dorabella), because someone new and interesting suddenly enters their life. Guglielmo is a different case, he seems to be more shallow, and yes, a misogynist because it's all about him and his ego. By the opera's end he appears to be greatly upset with both women because they bruised his ego. But please! He doesn't speak for the whole opera. This highly disturbing libretto is combined with some of the most sublime and most beautiful music Mozart ever composed, and I think it creates an opera that becomes darker and more disconcerting the more you go beneath the artificial surface of serenity. Remember, Così takes place in Naples, where a dormant Mt Vesuvius can erupt without warning!

Anyway, those are a few of my thoughts on just what Così fan tutte is about! Bottom line, it's not a farce and it's not a misogynistic opera. It's far more complex below the surface! I look forward to the upcoming podcasts on my favorite opera!

[welshspelling]

Thank you, Oliver, for doing Cosi! Now I can go see the version they're doing here on this side of the country (LA phil) as well as the Met HD broadcast with more intelligent ears.
Love you guys (and gal!)

[zach]

welshspelling, I am also going to the LA Phil Cosi. I bought a ticket for the May 23rd performance. Miah Presson is singing Fiordoligi. I know of Presson from the 2006 Glyndebourne DVD of Cosi so am excited she is in the cast.