Dmitri Tcherniakov refreshes Mozart’s opera by transposing it to a swingers’ place

The Russian director dusts off Mozart’s work by questioning romantic turmoil and dismay among fifty-year-olds. Original.

The title is, to say the least, misogynistic and sexist. Così fan tutte, “So they all do.” What do they do? Being unfaithful, cheating on their husbands. In the libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte written in 1789, Don Alfonso, a cynical character, wants to convince two young officers very much in love that their fiancées are, according to him, like all other women, unfaithful. And to develop a whole stratagem to prove his thesis. He asks them to disguise themselves as rich Albanians to seduce the two sisters. Mozart’s final opera begins as a romp that questions the loyalty of women, without ever calling into question the status of men.

Director Dmitri Tcherniakov radically modernizes the opera, composed two years before the death of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, by probing romantic disorder. Young people are getting older and are looking for a little adventure to spice up their lives. “Everything has changed since this opera was created almost 250 years ago, but also since I first worked on Cosi, twenty-five years ago, in Germany. Everything has changed: we have different social and moral standards; the red lines not to be crossed are no longer the same. If we want to be honest when approaching this work, if we want to consider these characters as living beings, it is impossible to take the libretto literally.” explains the director in his note of intent.

So they all do

Dmitri Tcherniakov therefore questions desire and love. He transposes his characters, well-off fifty-somethings, into a swinging place, cut off from the world. The decor is made up of two identical rooms, a table for six people and two armchairs around a stove. Don Alfonso and his accomplice Despina, played by a very inspired Patricia Petibon, are the guardians of this coldly designed place. The young officers are graying. They are no longer engaged but have been married for decades. There is no more deception because the couples are consenting. Will they swap partners for a weekend? What started as a game can take another turn.

By dusting off a work that he considers anachronistic, Dmitri Tcherniakov seduced a large part of the public but also provoked boos from a few. On stage, there is great complicity between the artists. The six singers have already played the different characters in the past and therefore know their roles perfectly. One of the highlights of Così fan tutte is Agneta Eichenholz’s solo. The Swedish soprano played Fiordiligi remarkably well. Music occupies a special space in Cosi fan tutte, she is even the seventh character, carried by the conductor Christophe Rousset. With Dmitri Tcherniakov, Così fan tutte became Così fan tutti (So they all do). What do they do? Live with their flaws and their strengths.

Form

Title : Cosi fan tutte

Music : Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

Booklet: Lorenzo Da Ponte

Musical direction : Christophe Rousset

Direction, scenography: Dmitri Cherniakov

Distribution : Agneta Eichenholz, Claudia Mahnke, Rainer Trost, Russell Braun, Georg Nigl, Patricia Petibon

Orchestra : Lyrical Talents

Duration : 3h20 (with intermission)

LANGUAGES : Italian surtitled in French and English

Place : Théâtre du Châtelet, 1 place du Châtelet, 75001, Paris

Dates: Until February 22, 2024