John Eliot Gardiner, The English Baroque Soloists - Mozart: Cosi fan tutte (2002/1992)
John Eliot Gardiner, The English Baroque Soloists - Mozart: Così fan tutte (2002/1992)
NTSC 16:9 (720x480) VBR | Italiano | LinearPCM, 2 ch | DTS, 5 ch | Dolby AC3, 6 ch | 7.06 Gb+7.77 Gb (2xDVD9) | 193 min
Classical | Deutsche Grammophon | Sub: Italiano, English, Deutsch, Francais, Espanol, Chinese
NTSC 16:9 (720x480) VBR | Italiano | LinearPCM, 2 ch | DTS, 5 ch | Dolby AC3, 6 ch | 7.06 Gb+7.77 Gb (2xDVD9) | 193 min
Classical | Deutsche Grammophon | Sub: Italiano, English, Deutsch, Francais, Espanol, Chinese
When this staging was presented in 1992, in various theatres, Gardiner decided to be his own director because he didn't trust any available alternative to be faithful to Da Ponte's and Mozart's original. In the circumstances his was a sensible decision because his deeply discerning stage interpretation perfectly seconds his own musically perceptive reading. His keen understanding of what this endlessly fascinating work is about is made plain in his absorbing essay in the booklet.
The first advantage of this film of the opera is Carlo Tommasi's ravishing décor that accords with what the libretto predicates, conjuring before our eyes 18th-century Naples overlooked by Vesuvius. Then Gardiner's direction makes all-too-clear the emotional turmoil engineered by Don Alfonso's cynical plans to test the ladies' constancy. At all times it's responsive to the music, except when members of the cast march through the stalls and when certain scenes are more sexually explicit than would have been contemplated in Mozart's age.
Amanda Roocroft's Fiordiligi is intrepidly sung, her tone always firm and gleaming, and she acts expressively. She's partnered, as originally intended, by a soprano Dorabella. Rosa Mannion proves an apt foil for her sister, and is deliciously flighty when falling for her 'Albanian' lover.
Rainer Trost is the young, fluent, eager Ferrando who makes the most of his taxing music, although his second aria, 'Ah! lo veggio', is here excluded. His vulnerable portrayal is a nice contrast to Rodney Gilfry's macho Guglielmo. The four voices blend well in the many ensembles.
In the pit, Gardiner's direct, big-scale yet sensitive conducting is the engine-room of the performance, superbly sustained by his periodinstrument band. Peter Mumford's video direction is faultless; so is the sound picture. (Gramophone Classical Music Guide)
Cast:
Fiordiligi - Amanda Roocroft
Dorabella - Rosa Mannion
Guglielmo - Rodney Gilfry
Ferrando - Rainer Trost
Despina - Eirian James
Don Alfonso - Claudio Nicolai
The Monteverdi Choir
The English Baroque Soloists
Conductor - John Eliot Gardiner
John Eliot Gardiner, The English Baroque Soloists - Mozart: Cosi fan tutte (2002/1992)
John Eliot Gardiner, The English Baroque Soloists - Mozart: Cosi fan tutte (2002/1992)
John Eliot Gardiner, The English Baroque Soloists - Mozart: Cosi fan tutte (2002/1992)
John Eliot Gardiner, The English Baroque Soloists - Mozart: Cosi fan tutte (2002/1992)
