Cosi Fan Tutte

Sony Classical continues its major Mozart opera project with conductor Teodor Currentzis and his orchestra & choir MusicAeterna. A ‘no-compromise’ studio recording cycle of Mozart’s three Da Ponte operas. Living in a unique artistic community established on the edge of Siberia, the musicians work and record under ideal conditions towards Currentzis’ stated goal “to show what can be achieved if you avoid the factory approach of the classical music mainstream”. The soloists’ vocal technique is also markedly different to modern operatic interpretation, with a focus on intimacy and clarity, a use of vibrato remarkably restrictive even by today’s ‘period practice’ standards as well as an approach to melodic ornamentation derived from historic sources which cannot be heard in other performances of these works.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Così fan tutte, opera lirica in due atti KV 588
Soile Isokoski - La Petite Bande / Sigiswald Kuijken
3xCD | EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 749 MB | Artwork | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Accent # ACC 9296-98 D | Country/Year: Belgium 1992
Genre: Classical | Style: Viennese School, Opera

"…More importantly, it just feels right, and that’s important for this piece where mood and atmosphere can have such an impact on the reading. I might even suggest that, next to the frenzied Jacobs and the rather serious Gardiner, this could come close to being a prime choice for a period version. " –MusicWeb International

Mozart's genius in setting to music Da Ponte's comic play of love, infidelity and forgiveness marks Così fan tutte as one of the great works of art from the Age of Enlightenment. Nicholas Hytner's beautiful production for the Glyndebourne Festival in 2006, with its sure touch and theatrical know-how, lives up to its promise to be 'shockingly traditional', while Iván Fischer teases artful performances from an outstanding international cast of convincing young lovers.

The classy interpretation of Mozart's Così fan tutte concluded Claus Guth's Mozart-Da Ponte opera trilogy at the Salzburg Festival. Hosted in the intimate surroundings of the Haus für Mozart, the comic tale of fi ancée-swapping is fl irtatiously retold by a dynamic cast and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra under Adam Fischer. Guth's imaginative production maintains the opera's musical drama and humour in a contemporary setting, where young men test their lovers in an entertaining game of seduction and temptation.

Riccardo Muti had made a sensational Salzburg début in 1971 and this Così fan tutte was his first Mozart opera at the festival. It was acclaimed by both the general public and international critics, who were virtually unanimous in their praise of the aesthetic quality of the production. Muti was praised for his authoritative approach to Mozart’s music, while the remarkably homogeneous team of international soloists was equally applauded. The singers form an admirably cohesive ensemble and all of them are outstanding Mozart singers. The production became a staple at the Salzburg Festival and hugely popular with audiences. Muti gives both the musicians and the audience time to appreciate Mozart’s music in all its beauty, formal mastery and, above all, in the endless variety of its depiction of human foibles. The Vienna Philharmonic’s playing is well sprung and relaxed, but always imbued with great intensity.