Mylinda Joyce - Fiordiligi Jacqueline Dark - Dorabella the two sisters,
Jacqueline Porter - Despina,the scheming maid,
Samuel Dundas - Guglielmo and James Egglestone - Ferrando the two fiances and
Gary Rowley - Don Alfonso, Guglielmo and ferrando's cynical, and mysogenist friend.
This production was directed by: Jean-Pierre Mignon.
I was initially surprised that this performance was sung in English, as the same company and cast has sung it in Italian at Her Majesties. I would have preferred the performance to be sung in Italian with surtitles as I found it difficult to understand the singing of Joyce and Dark. Reading the surtitles would have made the meaning of their songs clearer.
My favorite operas are by Puccini - Tosca and Madama Butterfly. My enjoyment of opera comes mainly from the beautiful arias. Examples from Tosca are: Recondita armonia, Mario! Mario! Mario!, Vissi arte, E lucevan le stelle snd Un bel di . This might be a sign of my lack of operatic sophistication. Unfortunately the only aria that I really enjoy in Cosi is the trio, "Soave sia il vento".
Margaret was offended on the sisters behalf by the mysogenist trick played on them by the men, and the maid. This is fair enough, though Despina did participate enthusiastically in the deception. Interestingly this opera fell out of favor in the 19th and early 20th Centuries not because of its treatment of women but because of its risque theme of fiancee swapping.
Even though I was taken back by some elements of the opera and performance it was an entertaining evening. When Cosi is performed again I will have to attend to make a more considered judgement.
No comments:
Post a Comment