A revisited “Così fan tutte”, Dominique Pitoiset’s first creation for the Dijon Opera

With this Così fan tutte, Dominique Pitoiset signs his first creation with the Opéra de Dijon, which he has been directing for a year. The director, who says to himself “fascinated” by this work of Mozart and the Italian librettist Lorenzo Da Pontewanted to place this love story in our time with contemporary sets and costumes, far from the 18th century.

Four performances are scheduled for February 6, 8, 10 and 12 at the Dijon Auditorium with, on the music side, the conductor Guillaume Tourniaire who conducts the Dijon Bourgogne Orchestra and the Chorus of the Dijon Opera.

This opera, which was given for the first time in 1790 in Vienna, is often accused of misogyny. If today it is one of the most performed in France and in the world, its plot and its music were long considered frivolous, trivial and even insignificant by composers like Beethoven and Wagner. It was not until the beginning of the 20th century that the work was rehabilitated, thanks in part to Richard Strauss and Gustav Mahler.

The title is already self-explanatory Così fan tuttetranslate: “so do they all, so do the women”. As for the plot, it features two officers, Ferrando and Guglielmo, in love with two sisters, Dorabella and Fiordiligi. A friend, Don Alfonso, claims that the fidelity of women in general is illusory. With the help of the servant Despina, he proposes to test the fidelity of lovers. The two men pretend to go to war, return dressed as Albanians and seduce the young women who give in to the charms of these “false new” suitors.

A way to accuse women of levity? For Dominique Pitoiset, the work must be placed in its context, the 18th century, and the two creators too, Da Ponte like Mozart: “He is a man of his time” explains the director.

Così fan tutte is not at all a cerebral work. She is visceral

Dominique Pitoiset

director and scenographer

Written in five months, this opera without a title role is the delight of the six lyrical performers (who each have a moment of glory with two dedicated tunes) and the musicians. As conductor Guillaume Tourniaire reminds us, “Mozart made three operas with Da Ponte: The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni and Così fan tutte which he composed a year before his death. What is special in these three operas is this force of life that one hear in the music”.

“Così fan tutte”, WA Mozart, 6 (3 p.m.) / 8, 10 and 12 Feb 2022 at 8 p.m., Dijon Auditorium (Duration 3.5 hours)