Opera Review: Cosi Fan Tutte

Well, this one was just wonderful. During the intermission all the ladies in the restroom line were full of praise.

“This is SO much better than the one I saw in Prague.”

“I saw it at the Met and it was just dark. This one’s funny!”

“The only other one I saw was so cynical. I like this better.”

And it was really funny. Just extraordinary physical humor, first of all. One of the soldiers is pleading his case and he does it from the ground, at her feet, just splayed out on his back with his legs spread and his hands clasped behind his head.

They set it during World War II and if you can believe it, it is full of 1940’s pop culture references. (They took liberties with the translation.) And because I haven’t seen it before, I had to read the Riverfront Times review to see that in the current version “there are some twists to the story that don’t exactly align with the original, however they help to overcome plotlines and themes that modern audiences find troubling and prejudiced.” I can only assume there was a consent issue to work out. All the other operas this season had a rape or abduction apiece. Next season there should be at least one opera without a trigger warning, unless Galileo raped someone.

I laughed at loud at Cosi Fan Tutte least a dozen times. Just a lovely way to end the season.