ENO
Cosi Fan Tutte
Lorenzo Da Ponte Director: Abbas Kiarostami; Eno production by Ass Dir. Elaine Tyler-Hall Conductor: Stefan Klingele
Designer: Malika Chauveau Lighting: Jean Kalman
London Coliseum
29 May – 2 July 09
Ibs
A review by Barry Grantham for EXTRA! EXTRA!
Director, Abbas Kiarostami, assistant director, Elaine Tyler-Hall, designer, Malika Chauveau and lighting designer Jean Kalman - the production team of this production of Cosi Fan Tutte, have got it right. So have the singers and musicians but more of them later. There cannot be, nor should one wish for, a definitive version of a classic, but the present production will do nicely for some years to come. It would seem that Mr Kiarostami’s Iranian background - acclaimed as a film director but still an outsider - has left him free to look to Mozart and his time for inspiration and not feel obliged to jump on the prevailing avant-garde bandwagon and set the piece at the time of the Second World War or something equally unenlightening. (Readers of my reviews will know that I am not against judicious transitions per-se) Don Alfonso suggests to his friends Ferrando and Guglielmo that the two sisters to whom they are engaged, like all women, are not to be trusted. The young men defend the honour of their fiancees and accept the challenge proposed by Don Alfonso, who wagers that, with their co-operation, he can prove his point within twenty-four hours. In a work of collaboration, like an opera, it is as hard to apportion praise as it is to allocate blame. Let’s take the contribution of designer, Malika Chauveau, who creates a quite beautiful evocation of the 1750’s and the Italy in which the piece is set. Two Tuscan pillars and a wonderful tessellated floor form a permanent feature to frame and contain a wealth of stunning scenes. Sometimes the Bay of Naples beyond is glimpsed through the tall narrow windows of a cool, simple but elegant interior or seen in its expanse from open terraces bathed in a perpetual sunset. (Delicious lighting by Jean Kalman). And is this view of the bay a painted backcloth or a slide projection? Neither; it is actually a film. Some of the audience may not have noticed that the sombre clouds over the Bay of Naples are moving. And then we see or think we see a tiny sailing boat on the horizon. Our attention is drawn to the onstage business and it is some time before we realize the boat is now closer and soon we will see it dock on the jetty below in order to take our two heroes away from their intended. So who conceived and made this beautiful vision – director or designer? And to whom do we owe the wonderful pier glass mirror in which the sisters are seen preening themselves. And who was responsible for the elegant and provocative gestures we see in reflection? And who trained the singers to perform the movements with such exquisite exactitude? Abbas Kiarostami’s assistant director and choreographer Elaine Tyler-Hall?. Whoever, whatever, we must sing the praises of Ms Tyler-Hall for the polished production at the Coliseum And talking of singing it’s about time to praise the cast – and the near perfect casting Guglielmo (Liam Bonner) Ferrando (Thomas Glenn). Here we have the four Innamorati and to complete the plot we need but two more; the cynical elder philosopher Don Alfonso, who proposes the wager to test the fidelity of the sisters (sung and acted with great clarity and humour by Steven Page, and the earthy and practical Servetta, Despina, .performed with impish vivacity by Sophie Bevan. Vocally and musically the production is irreproachable under the under the crisp but fluid direction of Stefan Klingele. Between all who have contributed to this sound and visual feast (including of course Mr Mozart himself) we have a masterpiece of symmetry and harmony, very sound and inflection exact, every move counter-balanced, every grouping made by rules of composition that would delight an old master; all a formal frame into which minor variations are all the more effective. A small example: the Sisters are dressed alike, but not exactly, their moves often duplicated, but not exactly so as to reveal their inner personality. We soon know which will be the first to fall.
Dates: May 29, at 7.00pm, .June 4 at 7.00pm 6 (Sat) at 7.00pm 11, at 7.00pm, June 13 (Sat) at 6.00 June 17, 19, 26 at 7.00pm. July 2 at 7.00 July 5 (Sun) at 3.00pm. Venue: ENO at the Coliseum, St Martin’s Lane, London WC2N 4ES Box Office: 0871 911 0200 www.eno.org Tickets: £10 - £80 Ring box office for concessions.
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