Così fan tutte

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National Theatre Chorus  
National Theatre Orchestra

Mozart’s Così fan tutte, ossia La scuola degli amanti (All Women Do It, or The School for Lovers) is the last of the three operas that were the fruit of the composer’s collaboration with the librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte. Following Don Giovanni and Le nozze di Figaro, the two artists opted for a more intimate story, focusing on the relationships between its four protagonists, two engaged couples. Da Ponte drew inspiration for the timeless and bitter comedy about female (and, ultimately, male too) fidelity in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Ariosto’s Orlando furioso and Cimarosa’s buffa L’impresario in angustie. Set to a seemingly trivial story, Mozart created one of his most refined works, boasting wonderful melodies and colourful orchestration, as well as splendid characterisation of the personages and situations. Così fan tutte premiered on 26 January 1790 at the Burgtheater in Vienna, with the composer conducting. The new opera came to Prague the following year, and the local audiences could see two productions – the first, as a singspiel and in German translation, was performed at the Vaterländisches Theater (in the former “Hibernia” monastery), the second, in its original form, at the Nostitz Theatre.

The adaptation of Così fan tutte is by Tatjana Gürbaca, an award-winning German director working for major European opera companies. The music has been undertaken by the German conductor Karsten Januschke, who first appeared at the Estates Theatre in 2021 at the Mozart’s Birthday concert, and also conducted the production of Don Giovanni.

A co-production with the Nationaltheater Mannheim.

Passages from Heiner Müller‘s play Quartett are used in the production.