Mozart has remained at the core of the
classical repertory for more than two centuries because of all
composers it’s he who has most felicitously transformed every
emotional state – from sadness to extreme pleasure – into accessible,
beguiling music.
Nowhere is this more true than in Mozart’s operas, and his quartet
of masterpieces in this genre make still-pertinent commentary
on relationships.
"The Magic Flute" shows two lovers successfully overcoming
trials that threaten their life together; "The Marriage
of Figaro" finds joyfulness in even the most troubled relationships;
"Don Giovanni" explores the darker side of our personalities,
as a sworn womanizer chooses death over redemption; and "Cosi
fan tutte" – the most troublesome, and troubling, Mozart
opera – intones that "All Women Are Like That."
Like what?
Find out at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, as a fully staged
production of "Cosi" is unveiled in the comfy confines
of the Harvey Theater April 24 through May 4. Performing one
of Mozart’s most delectable scores is the Brooklyn Philharmonic
under Robert Spano’s baton. And directing is Jonathan Miller,
no stranger to Mozart’s stage works, having helmed "Cosi"
in five different productions.
"It’s the opera I’ve directed more than any other, I think,"
Miller told GO Brooklyn while on a short break from rehearsals
Monday. "It’s an extremely intelligent, interesting piece
about human nature."
Miller is also no stranger to controversy, interpreting many
of the jewels of the operatic repertory in a fashion that the
more staid audience members and critics regard as contempt for
the form and its tradition.
In this "Cosi" production, Miller emphasizes the music
and story over lavish sets.
"The nice thing about this is it’s completely naturalistic,"
said Miller. "It’s a complete absence of what I call ’opera
shtick.’ It’s just perfectly normal people that you recognize
as being yourselves.
"With a piece like this, it’s not about scenery. It’s about
interactions between people. It’s very elegant and beautiful
to look at, but it’s not spectacular scenery. What it is,"
said Miller, "is elegantly formal."
At BAM, Miller’s newly revamped production of "Cosi"
is, typically for him, atypical: the singers, although they’re
clothed in obviously contemporary designer duds – the women’s
costumes in soft spring colors have been donated by Eileen Fisher
from her 2003 collection – move about in spaces that don’t betray
any specific time and place.
"Like Covent Garden, it’s the first one I’ve done in modern
dress, in modern times," said Miller. "It’s a piece
that unlike ’Marriage of Figaro’ or ’Don Giovanni,’ translates
into modern life with effortless ease. There’s no reference to
a social world, which you have to acknowledge; whereas ’Don Giovanni’
and ’Figaro’ are set in the 18th century, in a world of rank
and title and social hierarchy, which really doesn’t happen in
this at all."
The libretto for "Cosi" was written by Lorenzo da Ponte,
who also created the librettos for Mozart’s "Figaro"
and "Giovanni," and hence must be counted as one of
the most successful collaborators in all of opera.
"Cosi fan tutte" is more problematic than the highly
comic shenanigans of "Figaro" and the tragicomic peregrinations
of "Giovanni," following two sets of seemingly happy
and faithful couples who find their loyalty and their love placed
under a powerful microscope.
Ferrando is betrothed to Fiordiligi, and Guglielmo to her sister
Dorabella. The conniving Don Alfonso makes a wager with the two
officers that their lovers are like all other women – fickle
– and will fall for any man. The ladies’ maid Despina helps Alfonso
in his scheme, and soon both women are engaged to two new suitors
– their fiancees in disguise.
On the surface, the plot of "Cosi" is not unlike the
confusions informing Shakespeare’s comedies or even Mozart’s
own operas like "Figaro." But audiences for many years
found "Cosi" immoral and frivolous, a story too far
beneath the genius of Mozart, and so it languished for some time,
only recently finding a foothold in the repertory.
Miller, of course, is a staunch defender of Mozart’s story and
deems the behavior of the characters to be human rather than
immoral.
"Immoral because the girls seem to behave badly? But then
so do the men," said Miller. "It’s not immoral. [Today,]
we are much more tolerant of the varieties of human behavior.
"You can play it frivolously, but actually it gets more
and more serious and becomes quite tragic towards the end. It’s
about discovering alternate versions in yourself that you didn’t
suspect until you disguise yourself.
"It’s about the dangers of pretending to be someone else.
It’s about identity; it isn’t about fidelity," he said.
"It’s such a brilliantly elegant piece that it’s a great
pleasure to reconstruct it again and again."
The ambiguity of "Cosi" has since become its strong
suit: it’s an opera that can be interpreted in more ways than
any other Mozart stage work outside of "The Magic Flute."
Since it deals so directly with matters of the heart, "Cosi"
can withstand any sort of deconstruction. A recent Metropolitan
Opera production was turned into a star vehicle of sorts for
mezzo Cecilia Bartoli, who sang the comic-relief role of Despina:
at one point, Bartoli was seen pulling one of the opera’s sets
onto the stage, as if it was she who was the motor that drove
the entire enterprise.
For Miller’s production, Despina is sung by the veteran American
soprano Helen Donath, and Sir Thomas Allen – who returns to BAM
with the Brooklyn Philharmonic in May to sing Verdi’s magisterial
comic masterpiece, "Falstaff," for the first time –
takes the role of the sly Don Alfonso, who sets the plot machinery
in motion.
Miller, too, is returning to BAM having directed a Glimmerglass
production of Monteverdi’s "L’incoronazione di Poppea"
here in 1996 and productions of "St. Matthew Passion"
in 1997 and 2001.
Miller, formerly director of London’s Old Vic Theater, is clearly
a fan of the BAM Harvey Theater and Brooklynites.
"This is now the fourth time I’ve been here," he said.
"It’s the most wonderful natural, informal theater. It’s
the most marvelous décor such a wonderful elegant ruin.
"It’s an audience that is highly informed and aware of what
we’re doing in Europe, whereas other opera houses are more conventional,
and audiences come in order to applaud the scenery," Miller
added.
An intriguing international cast of young, up-and-coming singers
makes up the pivotal quartet of "Cosi": American tenor
Eric Cutler and British baritone Garry Magee are the men, while
Canadian soprano Alexandra Deshorties and Israeli mezzo Rinat
Shaham portray the women.
But the real star is – as always – Mozart, whose endlessly inventive
and varied vocal ensembles are among the most sublime he ever
composed.
There’s no higher praise.
Additional reporting by Lisa
J. Curtis.
Mozart’s "Cosi fan tutte"
will be performed in Italian with English surtitles at the BAM
Harvey Theater, 651 Fulton St. at Rockwell Place in Fort Greene
on April 24, 26, 28, 30 and May 2 at 7:30 pm, and May 4 at 3
pm. Tickets are $35, $60 and $90.
A Bamdialogue with director Jonathan Miller takes place April
24 at 6 pm in the BAMcinematek, 30 Lafayette Ave. at Ashland
Place. Tickets are $8. For more information, visit www.bam.org.
