MET OPERA: Mozart’s Così fan tutte

The Met: Live in HD is your chance to join thousands of others in theatres and cinemas around the world, to experience one of the world’s most famous opera companies livestream direct from New York. Here at Salt Spring, not only do you get to experience ArtSpring’s exceptional surround sound, but also our quiche intermissions – which have helped make Saturday morning opera a Salt Spring institution.
In addition to the opera itself, there are live interviews with the stars, and behind-the scenes live backstage footage.
The Met: Live in HD season kicks off with Così fan tutte – Mozart’s satirical comedy of fickle young love, one of the composer’s most sublime creations that premiered in Vienna in 1790. Phelim McDermott’s “colorful, inventive” (The New York Times) staging, inspired by Coney Island in the 1950s, sets the uproarious story at a boardwalk amusement park, where the two pairs of lovers at the heart of the tale find themselves on one emotional—and literal—thrill ride after another.
The third and final collaboration between Mozart and librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte is a fascinating paradox: a frothy comedy of manners with an intensely dark take on human nature; an old story (it has antecedents in Boccaccio, Shakespeare, and Cervantes, among others) with a startlingly modern tone; and a beautiful score depicting questionable behavior. Così fan tutte was only moderately successful at its premiere and remained just outside the standard repertoire for more than a century. Così still poses unique challenges, and correspondingly unique rewards, for the public today. Every possible impression of love—from the loftiest to the basest—is explored in this extraordinary opera.
Soprano Federica Lombardi and mezzo-soprano Samantha Hankey sing Fiordiligi and Dorabella, opposite tenor Duke Kim and baritone Andrey Zhilikhovsky as Ferrando and Guglielmo. Bass-baritone Gerald Finley reprises his portrayal of the cynical Don Alfonso, with soprano Ana María Martínez as the witty maid Despina.
Sung in Italian | Four hours | One intermission
Adult $25 | Senior $20 | Youth $15