Cosi fan tutte – Mozart – Nice Opera France
Image taken from the Nice Opera website
I would like to think that the seat I occupied at the Nice Opera was once sat on by Napoleon the III himself. The original 1776 wooden theatre was rebuilt in 1826 and Napoleon the III was known to have been a visitor, particularly when Johann Strauss led the orchestra during the 1860’s. However, it is very unlikely that a ‘higher’ derriere than mine sat in my seat, as that theatre was burnt to the ground during a performance of Donizetti’s Lucia de Lammermoor in 1881 – perhaps Lucia did get her revenge after all – and a new theatre was born in 1885.
The plans of the architect Francois Aune, who studied under Gustave Eiffel (of Tower fame), were approved by the construction expert Charles Garnier (of Paris Opera House fame). It is an ornate and beautiful building both inside and out and remains so to this day, accommodating up to 1,000 spectators for each performance. It has seen many grand occasions and whilst the new production of Cosi cannot be classed in that calibre it certainly was a very interesting evening.
The Director of this new production Daniel Benoin confirmed in an interview that his staging was designed as if the audience was witnessing the filming of a television series, which would take place around the setting of the Marriage of Figaro with 18th century costumes. However, the production team – costumed in modern up-to-date black film type wear – belonged clearly to the television production team as opposed to the cast of Mozart’s opera. But of course the Director makes it clear that both belong to the different eras and as the show unfolds the actor singers alternatively belong to the film crew as well as to the intrigue of Mozart’s opera.
Don Alfonso takes the role of the Director of the cast and Director of the filming crew and Despina takes the role as his assistant and as her own role as a maid to the ladies. It was intriguing with Clement Althaus’s sets being that of a scaffolded derelict 18th century home. The video artist Paolo Correia provided great backdrops and interesting filming of the artists themselves during their arias. It was a very young film set and the staging never lacked interest. Certainly this was a new and intriguing definition of Cosi and very well received by the audience.
The six main singers were all well matched and sang their roles adequately, from the Don Alfonso of the deep baritone Alessandro Abis to the beautiful voice of the young soprano Helene Carpentier as Despina. The soprano Anna Kasyan as Fiordiligi had great chest notes and the Dorabella of Carine Sechaye was a sublime mezzo in the making. Similarly the two men, the Ferrando of the tenor Pierre Derhet and the Guglielmo of the baritone Roberto Lorenzi, were both appropriately cast with mellow substantial sounds in this small auditorium.
The Conductor Roland Boer warmed to his work as the production wore on, occasionally somewhat slow, but ensuring that the Philharmonic Orchestra Nice always played energetically and with elegant tones.
An interesting interpretation of this most popular opera.
