For three days in March, the International Opera Academy programmed Così fan tutte, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's (1756-1791) third Da Ponte opera. Curious about the successor to the opera school that Guy Joosten helped establish back then, I was eager to see this Mozart opera with these young artists. The experience was remarkably positive.
Così fan tutte, with the subtitle "ossia la scuola degli amanti," has many layers, and the production addressed them with remarkable ingenuity, cleverness, and simplicity. Così fan tutte is a straightforward story with a limited cast: two couples and a scheming duo. The love of the couples Fiordiligi and Guglielmo on the one hand, Dorabella and Ferrando on the other, is put to the test, and what begins as a game becomes cruel truth, albeit with an open ending. In his foreword, Michiel Delanghe, the director of IOA, clearly justifies his choice of this opera. Young people are constantly confronted in real life with making choices, with expectations, and with whether or not to claim their freedom. What is the value of loyalty and identity? Thus the game on stage becomes a kind of laboratory for real life. The actors absolutely rose to this test with ideological underpinnings, and their staging of it delivered a fantastic theatrical experience.
The comedic and ironic elements, the pseudo-suspenseful and at times tragic aspects of the intrigue were handled with intelligence and conviction. The staging is remarkably simple. A bare stage with a bed—really a mattress on the ground, a few bar stools, some small racks, a low table, a kind of display bust. And most importantly, a harpsichord. Playing hide-and-seek under a sheet, bar stools as an "notary's office," a broomstick that serves various functions and carries a somewhat erotic connotation, two mugs with the initials F and G. Nothing more was needed to spark the imagination for the various locations and witty comic allusions where appropriate. Minimal lighting and contemporary, sometimes amusing clothing, like Don Alfonso's kilt-like skirt.
The singers clearly felt at home and commanded their vocal parts admirably well. Though still very young, they all have some opera experience under their belts, which surely explains their confidence and spontaneity. The farewell aria Soave sia il vento sounded genuinely moving; Juliana Cook sang with a beautiful high soprano the fiendishly difficult aria Come scoglio; Sophie Patterson was a touching and playful Dorabella with a delightful "E amore un ladroncello." The sisters' voices also matched nicely in their duets. Despina (Rosa Sparks) is simply a prototype of tongue-in-cheek comedy with a bright soprano timbre. Ferrando and Guglielmo are also well cast, with the tender tenor of Yiming Liu and the warm yet powerful baritone of Alex Gibb.
Kris Belligh steals the show as Don Alfonso. He completely inhabits the schemer and clearly relishes it! He's almost constantly on stage, always finding meaningful gestures, and what's more, he has a beautiful baritone that can convey both soft sneakiness and authority. A perfectly cast Don Alfonso!
The harpsichord on stage, of course, accompanies the recitatives but simultaneously becomes virtually part of the whole, especially with a sensitive harpsichordist like Job Clement, who also engages meaningfully with the story. An excellent touch.
Nabil Shehata conducted the Flanders Conservatory Orchestra, which the program notes introduce as a premiere for this production. For the first time, students from three conservatories—Antwerp, Ghent, and Brussels—are performing together in one ensemble. It delivered a thrilling and moving Mozart opera, with playfulness, nuance, and strong vocal support. The occasional oboe or bassoon that wasn't quite perfect is nitpicking in this context.
The performance received thunderous applause, which surely served as encouragement to continue pursuing this goal: "A unique collaboration that not only carries this production, but also helps build the future of our operatic landscape." I'm quoting this from the program booklet, which is in English only. A suggestion for the future: perhaps also include contributions in Dutch? IOA certainly deserves the best for its future.
