WORLD OPERA DAY: UNBOXING OPERA

 

WORLD OPERA DAY: UNBOXING OPERA

COSÌ FAN TUTTE
Opera buffa in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte

Sung in Italian, with subtitles in Spanish
Recorded at Salzburg Festival, August, 2020
Production 100º Salzburger Festspiele
Fiordiligi  Elsa Dreisig
Dorabella  Marianne Crebassa
Guglielmo  Andrè Schuen
Ferrando  Bogdan Volkov
Despina Lea Desandre
Don Alfonso Johannes Martin Kränzle
Wiener Philharmoniker
Conductor Joana Mallwitz
Stage direction Christof Loy

2.30 h (w/intermission)
photo ©Monika Rittershaus

At the 2020 Salzburg Festival this Così fan tutte was truly magical. With intelligent staging and a very young cast, the production was directed by Joana Mallwitz, the first woman to take the podium of the Vienna Philharmonic to conduct an opera. She was praised by BR Klassik: “The dominion and prudence with which the conductor Joana Mallwitz conducts her ensemble and the Vienna Philharmonic through Mozart’s musical cosmos is amazing”, adding that “the orchestra likes to be carried away by her, playing with enthusiasm and excellence”.
Christof Loy, director of international renown, brings unexpected psychological elements to his surprisingly modern and coherent mise en scène, up to the very last detail. On the simple black and white stage, the emotional tragedy follows its course.
The sisters Fiordiligi and Dorabella are happily engaged to Guglielmo and Ferrando, respectively. Don Alfonso questions the young ladies’ fidelity, and prepares, together with Despina, a plan to prove his suspicions. As a test, he convinces the suitors to disguise themselves and try to seduce their fiancées. The men go along with the plan, but are rejected by the young women. The suitors, allegedly devastated, make believe they are about to poison themselves, but the young women continue to spurn them. Despina, who perseveres with the evil plan, teaches the sisters how to flirt. They finally decide to go ahead and have fun with the strangers, and succumb to the disguised suitors. Don Alfonso takes charge of preparing a double wedding. But at the last minute, Ferrando and Guglielmo appear without their costumes and confront their fiancées. Finally, everything is clarified and forgiven, because happy is he who chooses to always see the good side of things, laughs when the world gives reason to cry, and finds peace in reason.


World Opera Day will be celebrated on the 25th of October, the day on which Georges Bizet and Johann Strauss II, composers of what may well be the world’s most famous opera and operetta, were born. On that day, opera companies, together with opera artists, fans and professionals, can show and celebrate the value of this form of art.
‘Unboxing Opera’ refers to the millions of videos to be watched on the World Wide Web, where users unbox products in front of their cameras.  They are filming themselves in the process of revealing the received object, and analyse and explain it to their virtual audience. The videos are usually enthusiastic and reflect the emotion and excitement someone feels when discovering something new.  
Opera goes far beyond a product that can be taken out of a box; but isn’t revealing opera, sharing its content, explaining how it functions, bringing it closer to people, and sharing strong emotions while discovering new art the mission of World Opera Day?
Beyond the references to the videos on YouTube, the opera boxes still found in traditional opera houses often recall the genre’s elitist image, and ‘unboxing opera’ evokes the idea of bringing it out of a rigid place and suggests breaking the limits of the art form.
‘Unboxing Opera’ will give a wider audience the opportunity to discover new facets of opera, to deepen their knowledge about it and to be surprised and touched by this art form.

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