Cory Weaver

It’s hard to believe that before the not too distant past, Mozart’s operas outside of Le Nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni hardly flourished beyond the 18^th century. Had it not been for the Glyndebourne excavations, both stagings and recordings, going way back to the 1930’s with the conductor Fritz Busch, who knows how long they might have languished outside the repertory?

Così fan tutte was looked on as an aberration by Mozart’s contemporaries, most especially Beethoven, and it was the last of the three operas he composed with librettos penned by Lorenzo Da Ponte. With its themes of “fiancée swapping,” to say nothing of gentlemen placing bets on the virtues of their affianced, it caused quite a bit of pearl clutching back in the day. We’ve since been completely cured of such prudery – thanks, reality TV!

In the early years of LA Opera, famed theater director Sir Peter Hall enjoyed the SoCal sunshine along with his wife Maria Ewing (a boy never forgets his first Salome); this coincided directly with his leadership of Glyndebourne at the time so it seemed like you had to actively avoid Mozart and Così at the Music Center in the early years. Which is exactly what I did being yet in my opera infancy. I was far, far, more interested in murderous sopranos pushed to the brink of sociopathy than some polite, powder-puffed comedy of manners. (He said, covering his face in shame.) Still, Teeny recorded Fiordiligi and was known to sing a “Come scoglio” or two in recital so it’s not like I was unfamiliar.

With thanks to my surgeon and with the blessing of my physical therapist and her exhaustive schedule (I’m not kidding), plus not a few painkillers of more than moderate strength, I wended my way to the Music Center with my new hip in place to celebrate Mozart on International Women’s Day. (Coincidence, you say?).

I consider myself a traditionalist… with an open mind. Consequently I try not to over-research what I’m about to see and write up. This production originated at the San Francisco Opera in 2021 and when I initially saw the word “updated,” I briefly broke out in a rash. But I shouldn’t have worried at all. Set Designer Erhard Rom’s “Wolfbridge Country Club” of the 1930s featured a very clever mix of three dimensional Paladian architecture with life size blue-print renderings (easier to shift). Large cameo busts of Mozart and Da Ponte overlooked the action from opposing walls on high with an exquisitely painted (Chesapeake?) bay painted backdrop upstage center. If you squinted, it could have been in Salzburg 50 years ago. Three large flying drops downstage equipped with doors, when lowered, allowed for (relatively quiet) scene shifting behind while someone had a scena out in front. Meanwhile we got a gentlemen’s locker room with adjacent steam room, badminton court, swimming pool, and posh billiards room, enhanced in no small part by Jane Cox’s really imaginative and evocative lighting. On the whole, it’s a pretty glam affair.

I’m loathe to point the finger of intellectual plagiarism at anyone but if Costume Designer Constance Hoffman didn’t watch George Cukor’s 1939 society cat-fight The Women (and take note of the ensembles by the legendary Adrian) as some inspiration for her designs here, I’ll eat my appoggiatura. She was absolutely spot on with the gentleman in the opening scene in fencing Lamés, then later very Brooks Bros. about town, then disguised (hilariously I might add) as rich-as-Croesus Texans in cowboy hats and wooly-mammoth fur coats. The ladies got lovely high society athleisure wear and, of course, ended up in slinky satin cocktail gowns for the finale. What need have we of corsets and panniers, I ask you?

Cory Weaver

A very strong cast featured Rod Gilfry as Woolfbridge Country Club General Manager Don Alfonso. A favored son of LA Opera, he was the first Mozart Figaro I ever saw live way back in 1990 in a platinum cast that included Thomas Allen, Arleen Auger, and Frederica von Stade  in another Hall staging and he was also a Gugliemo in a past revival of the Hall Così. Mr. Gilfry had a moment’s errant intonation during the first Act’s “Soave” trio, but quickly righted himself and sang so well all evening I regretted he didn’t have an actual aria.

Joining him in his machinations was Ana María Martínez as a wily and all-too-knowing Despina. Ms. Martínez is almost overqualified for the part, having been a heralded Salzburg Fiordiligi herself back in the day. As a maid of all work, she was all elbows and home-perm and I adored the silent side-eye bit towards the end of the second Act where she let the sisters in on the ruse. She was absolutely hilarious during “Una donna a quindici anni” and took full advantage of its built-in encore.

The gentlemen were well matched as well. Justin Austin’s Guglielmo was all brash boasting bravado and competitive one-upmanship. His lithe and limber baritone a perfect weight for Mozart’s demands.

Anthony León as our Ferrando is almost in a class by himself. This is in all probability the most beautiful and graceful Mozart tenor voice I’ve ever heard live. He took the second verse to “Un aura amorosa” in an exquisitely hushed pianothat almost made me forgive the fact that he joined the last ‘a’ in “aura” to the first ‘a’ in “amorosa” both times. He’s certainly not the first tenor to do so, but there should be a pausa. He’s a flexible comedian onstage and with Mr. Austin’s help, entered into the slapstick spirit of the proceedings with relish. When the aforementioned flying drops started descending in front of him during his lead-up recitative exchange “Barbara! Perché fuggi?…” with Fiordiligi in Act II, I knew we wouldn’t be getting his, “Ah! Lo veggio.” I consoled myself with the fact that he did give us a fiery “Tradito, schernito,” which was fleet and muscular in all the right places. I say all this honestly as someone who’s never been a fan of Mozart’s writing for the tenor voice or most of the tenors who sing it. (Pace, Fritz Wunderlich.)

Cory Weaver

Erica Petrocelli as Fiordiligi and Rihab Chaieb as Dorabella were excellent foils for each other. They had a comfortable interplay and obviously enjoyed the back and forth in their recitatives all evening. Ms. Chaieb was rightfully the more drama-prone of the two and had a couple bits of hilarious business I won’t ruin here. Her “Smanie implacabili” teetered just on the brink of hysteria so you weren’t sure if her Dorabella was actually serious or merely enjoying the attention. She and Ms. Petrocelli were delicious in their “Divertirsi” duetto in Act II when the sisters finally decide to enter into the fun.

I’ve enjoyed Ms. Petrocelli in a number of roles here, most especially in Barrie Kosky’s La bohème as a Musetta who managed to hold her own onstage against a veritable menagerie of humanity at the Cafe Momus. She’s not a heroic Fiordiligi — there’s a softness and vulnerability in the beginning that’s equal parts unassuming and charming. As the evening progressed, however, she gained in stature and by the time we reached the recitative introducing, “Per pieta,” she’d assumed a true nobility both in phrasing and declamation. She also made quick work of all her roulades and the astonishing leaps and drops in Mozart’s writing — literally “like a rock” all evening long. She and Mr. León partnered ably in the little tennis-match that is their delicious last act love duet. As I write this it was just announced that Ms. Petrocelli and Mr. León were both gifted with the Eva and Marc Stern Artist Award by LA Opera, which couldn’t be more deserved.

Now might be the good time to mention that I think it was an almost appoggiatura free performance, certainly with no cadenzas (I was hoping) and I don’t think anyone had what I would call a ‘finished’ trill. Not that the singing was graceless by any means, but it did lack those particular graces. However I wasn’t following with a flashlight and a score at my seat so I could be wrong.

Cory Weaver

Sadly this production lost its original director, Michael Cavanagh, to cancer just last year before he was able to bring it to Los Angeles himself. His San Francisco colleague Shawna Lucey recreated the staging for us and she did a fine job. Juxtaposing the 1930’s setting and Da Ponte’s buffa setting made a good match as there was plenty of slapstick that needed no excuses. I especially liked Despina showing up as the “Doctor” straight off the country club links with golf bag in tow. During Ferrando and Fiordiligi’s last Act duet, Mr. Austin could be seen through the upstage window having to be forcibly restrained by Don Alfonso to much hilarity.

James Conlon in the pit kept a watchful eye both on his players and his singers. When you’re there live it does really hit how incredibly hard the strings are working and they barely put a foot wrong. The winds were just as fluent as well. I could find no fault with his tempos and, as always, he’s a skilled accompanist which is what you need in music this demanding. The reduced forces of the LA Opera orchestra offered balanced and vibrant playing from all concerned. The Chorus doesn’t have much to do musically in Così but they made a ringing contribution and filled in the background as fellow club members well. Oh, and the Act I military send off was very funny

Invariably there’s always discussion with Così about size of venue. Is the Dorothy Chandler too large for so gentle a work? There were times where I felt it was. But seeing such a well rehearsed, gifted cast in this clever staging playing to the hilt was its own reward. Four performances remain through the end of March.