A Cosi Fan Tutte Opera Theatre Report - Research Paper Example

A Così Fan Tutte Opera Theatre Report Introduction Così Fan Tutte by Mozart’s presented by the MSU Opera Theatre was a four day event taking place at the MSU Auditorium Building, Fairchild Theatre. Its sponsors were Kurt together with Cheryl Burmeister. The show began on November 19th and ran to the 23rd of the same month. On November 19th, 2014 Wednesday the presentation began at 7.30 am with those for Thursday and Friday starting thirty minutes later. The final Sunday performance began in the afternoon. What hit me upon arriving for the Wednesday morning show were the impressive and classy renovations made to the Fairchild Theatre, which made me look forward to watching the production. Così Fan Tutte can be interpreted in a number of ways, but it basically talks about all women being alike. It involved an attempt by two youthful Italian soldiers to examine how faithful their fiancées are. This is done by concealing their identities taking those of rich Albanians who begin to court their lovers with the intention of testing their fidelity. Ferrando, who is one of the two soldiers, was played by Isaac Frishman and Jon Oakley while Nicholas Kreider with Andrew Breuninger played the role Guglielmo. The character of Fiordiligi who was one of the officer’s fiancé was played by Heather Benson and Shyler Sheltrown. Jenna Wasburn and Anne Todey played the role of Fiordiligi’s sister, Dorabella. The harmony was done in Italian while surtitles in English were made available too. The performance was taken on by associates of the MSU Symphony Orchestra, with the assistance of about 30 singers. The introduction to the performance was quite long. The conductor and music director, Marcello Comio, who also happens to be a great pianist tried to keep the audience keen on what was installed for us with his lovely music. The director Melanie Helton made an appearance as she presented a preview of the presentation. The performances were divided into a series of acts with each act being as intriguing as the next. The first act began with the officer’s confidence in their fiancées faithfulness being challenged by their confidant Alfonso, who is played by Daniel Ewart and Aaron Petrovinch. He then introduces them to the idea of tricking their lovers. This act involves the fake departure of the officers, the morning of their lovers and the arrival of the Albanians. It comprises deception by the Albanians, Don Alfonso and the housemaid, Despina who is played by Leah Brzyski and Alina Tamborini. Personally, I found the singing much more captivating than the acting, more so for the first two acts. The harmonics brought the audience in the mood and kept them attentive. The attempts of the gentlemen to seduce their lovers were quite hilarious especially having them pretend to be dying. However, it was a bit disappointing as some of the songs sang did not match the personalities of the characters performing it. It did not make sense how Fiordiligi, her sister and Alfonso could present such a lovely song as the soldiers went off for war yet there are supposed to be self-centered. As the performance continued into the second and third days, it became less about the music for me but more about seeing what would happen next. The actors did not utilize the stage well during the succeeding acts so the only way to continue with the flow of the story was to listen to the music. This was quite disappointing especially because the first act ended in a lot of suspense. The second act had the girls finally falling into this trickery. The romance continues to the point where the pairs are engaged and married only to have their original spouses returning back home. A few minutes into this act made me think that the production was somehow dead set against women. The tactics used to seduce the two sisters was an indicator of how shallow women are perceived to be. In the subsequent acts, however, it felt more as if the musicals were too hurried. The orchestra nevertheless tried to keep up with the performances but the harmonics still sounded a bit rushed. Of the two sisters, Heather Benson, who played Fiordiligi, sang best this is especially in the second act when it dawns on her that she might be falling for the Albanian. All her songs are also heartfelt and full of emotion. The two sister’s duets, on the other hand, were quite moving. Their voices were combined to bring out a beautiful presentation. Isaac Frishman and Nicholas Kreider who took the roles of Ferrando and Guglielmo consecutively were also not half as bad in their songs. The most notable harmonics was when they began to come to terms with their lover’s unfaithfulness. Leah Brzynski who played Despina was quite outstanding; her lovely voice and her hyperactive and lively character definitely took the audience’s attention. She was definitely unnatural especially in the last act as the soldiers pretended to return from war and she took the role of a notary. However, the last scene of this humorous opera left me confused about which fiancé ended up with which man. Conclusion The concert was certainly funny and at the same time quite intriguing, full of deceptions and romance too I could almost compare it with a reality show. I loved the details put into the designing of costumes as well. The voices were nothing short of quality, good music and with a great complexity and cleverness observed in the acting (Wolfgang 102-106). However, the first act was most entertaining keeping me much anticipative for the rest of the performance. My overall conclusion on the drama was that if women are claimed to be alike, then so as men. Work Cited Wolfgang, Amadeus, Mozart. Così fan tutte. MSU Symphony Orchestra. Fairchild Theatre, MSU Auditorium. 19 November 2014. Read More