Cosi fan tutte

at Stowe Opera

In 2005, Robert Secret, MD of Stowe Opera, asked Yvonne to return as Artistic Director and she was now looking to make equal sense of the complex and, musically most beautiful piece COSI FAN TUTTE.

The cast consisted of the vocally, as well as dramatically strong singers Simone Sauphanor (Fiordiligi), Rebekah Coffey (Despina), Nicholas Ransley (Ferrando), Adrian Powter (Guglielmo), Simon Wilding (Don Alfonso) and Yvonne Fontane herself (Dorabella). With Robert Secret on the baton, the inspired stage and lighting designs of Ian McKillop, and the sensitive costume designs of Nicholas Boiselle, this promised to be another summer of working with a great team.

To Yvonne's mind, Cosi fan tutte is potentially a very one-sided study of human nature, claiming that the emotional arm of all women can be twisted if man only perseveres long enough.

However, in this instance the two men in question, Guglielmo and Ferrando, have to go into the realm of great pretence and lies in order to make the point of their bet and win it. And the two prove to be formidable experts in these non-virtues: "Cosi fan Tutte" when it comes to men as well?

What good is any information acquired under false pretences? And at what cost does one now own this knowledge?

In the opera, the men's competitive streak, their male ego and pride drives them to losing their bet to Don Alfonso, the stirrer of their egos. The fact that they succeed in breaking the women's resolve can make neither them nor the women feel very good. Surely, after such escapades as described by Lorenzo da Ponte, librettist of Cosi, the ending will have to be a far cry from the seemingly shallow and frivolous opening of the plot.

"Above all, Stowe is unafraid to play things straight... Fontane kept things intelligently straightforward and allowed Da Ponte's subtle homily to speak for itself... The ensuing crisp changes between the "wrong" couples, plus the set-to between Fiordiligi and Ferrando were beautifully carried off."

"Simon Wilding's Don Alfonso appeared hypermanic, but his isolation near the close, and the contrast between one couple's reconciliation and the other's continuing estrangement, were well-considered touches."
(OPERA) Stowe Opera 2005