Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Così fan tutte CONDUCTOR Opera in two acts James Levine Libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte PRODUCTION Lesley Koenig Saturday, April 26, 2014, 1:00–4:40 pm SET & COSTUME DESIGNER Michael Yeargan LIGHTING DESIGNER Duane Schuler STAGE DIRECTOR Robin Guarino This production of Così fan tutte was made possible by a generous gift from Alberto Vilar. Additional funding was provided by the Metropolitan Opera Club; the Denenberg Foundation, in honor of Dan Denenberg; The DuBose and Dorothy Heyward Memorial Fund; and the late Mr. and Mrs. Samuel L. Tedlow. The revival of this production is made possible GENERAL MANAGER Peter Gelb by a gift from DOLCE & GABBANA. MUSIC DIRECTOR James Levine PRINCIPAL CONDUCTOR Fabio Luisi 2013–14 Season The 184th Metropolitan Opera performance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Così fan tutte This performance is being broadcast live over The Conductor Toll Brothers– James Levine Metropolitan Opera International IN ORDER OF VOCAL APPEARANCE Radio Network, sponsored by Ferrando Toll Brothers, Matthew Polenzani America’s luxury homebuilder®, with Guglielmo generous long-term Rodion Pogossov* support from Don Alfonso The Annenberg Maurizio Muraro Foundation, The Neubauer Family Fiordiligi Foundation, the Susanna Phillips Vincent A. Stabile Endowment for Dorabella Broadcast Media, Isabel Leonard and contributions from listeners Despina worldwide. Danielle de Niese* This performance is Cello Continuo also being broadcast David Heiss live on Metropolitan Opera Radio on Harpsichord Continuo SiriusXM channel 74. Howard Watkins* Saturday, April 26, 2014, 1:00–4:40 pm This afternoon’s performance is being transmitted live in high definition to movie theaters worldwide. The Met: Live in HD series is made possible by a generous grant from its founding sponsor, The Neubauer Family Foundation. Bloomberg is the global corporate sponsor of The Met: Live in HD. MARTY SOHL/METROPOLITAN OPERA MARTYSOHL/METROPOLITAN Isabel Leonard as Chorus Master Donald Palumbo Dorabella (left) and Musical Preparation Jane Klaviter, Robert Morrison, Susanna Phillips as Derrick Inouye, and Howard Watkins Fiordiligi in a scene Assistant Stage Director Gregory Keller from Mozart’s Italian Coach Hemdi Kfir Così fan tutte Prompter Jane Klaviter Met Titles Cori Ellison Scenery, properties, and electrical props constructed and painted by Metropolitan Opera Shops Costumes executed by Metropolitan Opera Costume Department Wigs executed by Metropolitan Opera Wig Department This performance is made possible in part by public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts. Before the performance begins, please switch off cell phones and other electronic devices. * Graduate of the Lindemann Young Artist Development Program Yamaha. Celebrating 25 Years as the Official Piano of the Metropolitan Opera. Latecomers will not be admitted during the Met Titles performance. To activate, press the red button to the right of the screen in front of your seat and follow the instructions provided. To turn off the display, press the red button once again. If you have questions please ask an Visit metopera.org usher at intermission. ON STAGE NOW Four returning favorites! ROSSINI La Cenerentola APR 21, 25, 28 MAY 2, 6, 10 mat ree peerless Rossini virtuosos star in La Cenerentola—a vocal tour de force for mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, singing her first Met performances of the Cinderella title role, and tenors Juan Diego Flórez and Javier Camarena, who share the role of her Prince Charming. BELLINI I Puritani APR 22, 26, 29 MAY 3 mat, 7, 10 Olga Peretyatko makes her highly anticipated Met debut in Bellini’s vocal showcase, featuring one of opera’s greatest mad scenes. Also starring Lawrence Brownlee, Mariusz Kwiecien, and Michele Pertusi. MOZART Così fan tutte APR 23, 26 mat, 30 MAY 3, 8 Music Director James Levine conducts Mozart’s beloved opera about testing the ties of love, starring Susanna Phillips and Isabel Leonard as the sisters at the center of the story, Matthew Polenzani and Rodion Pogossov as their lovers, and Danielle de Niese as the scheming Despina. R. STRAUSS Arabella APR 24 Malin Byström stars in the title role of Strauss’s nostalgic romance, which explores the fleeting charms of youth, opposite Michael Volle and Juliane Banse. Synopsis Act I Naples, late 18th century. Two young officers, Ferrando and Guglielmo, boast about the beauty and virtue of their girls, the sisters Fiordiligi and Dorabella. Their older friend, the cynical Don Alfonso, declares that a woman’s constancy is like the phoenix—everyone talks about it but no one has actually seen it. He proposes a wager of one hundred sequins: if they’ll give him one day and do everything he asks, he will prove to them that the sisters are unfaithful, like all other women. Amused, the young men agree. Fiordiligi and Dorabella think of their lovers, imagining that they will soon be married. Alfonso’s plot begins when he arrives with terrible news: the young officers have been called away to their regiment. Ferrando and Guglielmo appear, apparently heartbroken, and the four make tearful farewells. As the soldiers leave, the two women and Alfonso wish them a safe journey. The sisters’ maid, Despina, complains about how much work she has to do around the house. The girls enter and Dorabella vents her despair. Despina refuses to take them seriously: they should simply find new lovers, since men are unworthy of a woman’s fidelity. Fiordiligi and Dorabella are shocked. Alfonso arrives and bribes Despina to assist him, without revealing his plot. Ferrando and Guglielmo enter, disguised as “Albanians,” and declare their admiration for the ladies, each addressing the other’s girlfriend. The sisters firmly reject their advances, Fiordiligi comparing her constancy to a rock in a storm. Left alone, the men are confident of winning the bet. Ferrando expresses his love for Dorabella, and the two friends leave. As the sisters continue to lament the absence of their lovers, the “foreigners” return, pretending to have poisoned themselves in despair over their rejection. Despina and Alfonso go off to fetch help, leaving the two girls to care for the strangers, who find the situation highly amusing. Despina reappears disguised as a doctor and pretends to draw out the poison with a magnet. When Ferrando and Guglielmo request kisses in order to fully recover, the sisters again reject them, but it is clear they’re beginning to show interest in the strangers. Intermission (AT APPROXIMATELY 2:35 PM) Act II Despina lectures her mistresses on how to handle men and the sisters agree that there can be no harm in a little flirtation. They decide on their partners, each picking the other’s suitor. Guglielmo, flirting with Dorabella, succeeds in replacing Visit metopera.org 35 Synopsis CONTINUED her portrait of Ferrando with his own gift. Ferrando is less lucky with Fiordiligi, but when he has left, she struggles with her emotions. Ferrando is certain they have won the wager. Guglielmo is happy to hear that Fiordiligi has been faithful to him, but when he shows his friend the portrait he took from Dorabella, Ferrando is furious. Guglielmo, adopting Alfonso’s philosophy, blames it on the women. He asks Alfonso to pay him his half of the winnings, but Alfonso reminds him that the day is not yet over. Fiordiligi reproaches her sister for her behavior, but Dorabella replies that love is a thief who rewards those who obey him. Alone, Fiordiligi decides to join Guglielmo at the front, when suddenly Ferrando appears. He tries one last time to seduce her and succeeds. Guglielmo is furious, but Alfonso again declares that this is the way women are. A man who has been deceived can blame only himself. The sisters have agreed to marry the “foreigners.” Everything is ready and Alfonso arrives with the notary—Despina in another disguise. As Fiordiligi and Dorabella sign the contract, military music announces the return of their former lovers. In a panic, they hide their intended husbands, who return as their real selves, first pretending surprise at their reception, then, when they discover the marriage contract, blaming the girls and threatening revenge. Finally, the men reveal their ruse and Fiordiligi and Dorabella ask forgiveness. Alfonso reminds the lovers to learn their lesson. 36 In Focus Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Così fan tutte Premiere: Vienna, Court Theater, 1790 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. The premise is simple: two friends brag that their fiancées, who happen to be sisters, are incapable of infidelity. An older, more philosophical man bets that he can prove them wrong in 24 hours and enlists the help of the sisters’ devious maid to help him in his practical joke. He coerces each young man to seduce the other’s fiancée, which they do successfully. Although the bet is lost, the philosopher advises his friends to forgive their fiancées and to learn from the experience—after all, “all women act like that” (to paraphrase the opera’s title, which is famously difficult to translate). The Setting The opera is set in Naples. With its natural beauty and abundant sunshine, the city became the equivalent of a tourist destination in the 18th century. It has been suggested that the preponderance of woodwinds in the score is meant to evoke the breezy atmosphere of the seashore. The Creators Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) was the son of a Salzburg court musician and composer, Leopold, who was also his principal teacher and exhibited him as a musical prodigy throughout Europe. His works continue to enthrall audiences around the world and his achievements in opera, in terms of beauty, vocal challenge, and dramatic insight, remain unsurpassed.