Customer Reviews

Mozart - Cosi fan Tutte

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

For my taste, Glyndebourne 2006 new production of Cosi fan tutte is the best DVD version for this opera. Ivan Fisher is an excellent Mozartian, and the young and good-looking cast sings and acts with a lot of enthusiasm. The best singers are the wonderful Swedish Miah Persson as Fiordiligi, and the Italian baritone Luca Pisaroni as Guglielmo. Highly recommended!!

I picked up this dvd several months ago and it quickly became my favourite dvd of my favourite opera. There is so much that has to be considered for the wonderful balance that Mozart created here. From the all important ensembles down to the solo numbers everthing here works beautifully, sung by and appropriately youthfull cast and staged by Glyndebourne with a refreshing faithfullness to Mozart and DaPonte.

You won't regret purchasing this DVD of Cosi Fan Tutte. It ranks with the very best Cosi on DVD, the Gardiner with Amanda Roocroft, Rosa Mannion, Rodney Gilfry, Rainer Trost, Eirian James from Deutsche Grammophon. I didn't think that one could be matched but this one does it. Indeed, the acting is even slightly better.

Despite going to the opera for the first time when I was 7, it's taken me more than 20 years to really appreciate the artform and I've recently begun collecting DVDs. This production was the first Così I ever heard or saw and - having seen a few more since then - will likely be the last. If I lost my mind and decided to watch it with the sound muted, I'd still be thoroughly entertained - the comic and dramatic talents of the players here is unsurpassable! I'm particularly fond of Anke Vondung's ditzy Dorabella, but everyone is amazing. I must say that the setting and costumes (no turbans, thank God!) adds to the already potent mixture. The clear and crisp sound of Fischer's well-conducted period instruments is pure joy. The four principal singers all do marvellous jobs and over the last few times I've watched the DVD, I've taken to counting the number of times you see any of them looking at the conductor... It may 'just' be fantastic video-editing (which is the case, no matter what), but the few and very discrete times I've caught them looking at Fischer can be counted on one hand - alltogether. Aside from indicating that the production is thoroughly rehearsed, it does wonders for keeping up the 4th wall between performers and audience. Allround brilliant DVD!

I bought this DVD several weeks ago and can't get enough of it. This production is beautifully staged and directed. It was recorded in HD, the audio is terrific, the singing and acting are wonderful and genuine. I think this is the type of performance Mozart had in mind when composing this gorgeous opera.

My personal favorite arias are Ferrando's and the Guglielmo and Dorabella duet. They both bring me to tears.

This will become your favorite Cosi.

This DVD is my favorite "Cosí" from now on, and my old Harnoncourt-Bartoli-Baltsa-Zurich set has become my "other" one. Why is this? Are the singers, or the orchestra, or the conductor much better in the new version? No, I can't say that. Though she's a wonderful singer, beautiful Miah Persson can't deliver the demoniac "Come scoglio" as Cecilia Bartoli masterly does (who can?). And Topi Lehtipuu is not vocally superior to the ardent, italian lyric tenor of Roberto Sacca, and conductor Ivan Fisher does not a clearly better job than Maestro Harnoncourt, and so on, but...

But perfect music rendering is not everything in an opera DVD, and this Glyndebourne "Cosi" has an evident advantage over the Zurich set: visual offering. And I don't mean just the static scenery, but the dramatic flow also. Sets, costumes and lighting tell us that young ladies Fiordiligi and Dorabella live under the blue skies of Ferrara, in a nice house with a nice garden, and plenty of flowers. By some strange reason, these were forbidden issues at the Zurich stage (?). And, perhaps the main strenght of this Glyndenbourne DVD (over many others, not only the Zurich's) is Stage Director Nicholas Hytner, who does a magnificent job with his young singing-artists, driving the plot much closer to the standard of a good stage play than that of an opera.

So I'm joining most other reviewers and I strongly recommend this DVD, as one of the best filmed and well balanced (music and drama) opera productions on the market.

Mozart's Cosi fan Tutte is a delightful opera, full of melody, tangled motivations, good natured teasing, silly disguises and serious thought. In this performance from Glyndebourne the singers are beautiful as well as talented; consequently the entire story comes alive. Wonderfully executed musically and visually, it's a performance that completely embodies the spirit of Mozart's opera. Not to be missed.

Excellent production and singing.
But this production uses the short version of the Act I finale so buyers beware - if that matters to you. (I prefer the long version.)

I have been familiar with Cosi ever since I can remember. From an aria or two on my dad's 78RPM records to the beautiful Otto Klemperer recording on vinyl and later on to many VHS tapes and then the Gardiner version, although good, started appearing a little jaded thanks to average acting and dramatization.
So when I felt I should have a fresh new DVD (sans Eurotrash), I thought I would look up the views of the reviewing proletariat - and thought I would risk buying this one.

THANKS GUYS.... Whatever you have stated in all the previous 15 reviews to this is almost absolutely correct. This is the nearest thing that is akin to an un-putdownable book that I have seen. I did not even leave my seat for a snack or a leak... So fresh, and so vibrant in acting and absolutely precise sublime singing and interpretation. I think I will measure any other Cosi by the standard set by this one.

Not just period costumes, but sets that are minimal, but bright (and not jungle-jims or abstract pillars and stuff that do not distract,) and bring out the essence of the interpretation. I am also overjoyed that it has been performed by artistes thus far not known to me... maybe they are doing well these days, must look that up now.

I would unhesitatingly recommend this DVD to anyone irrespective of whether it is the first ever DVD of Cosi or even if one has all the other recordings of it.

What a pleasure it is to watch this opera performance from Glyndeborne. Firstly the Nicholas Haynter production is is a joy to behold; unfussy, well lit, fresh and sensible. Secondly the cast is admirable in its ensemble performance, vivid acting and satisfying singing. The only member of the cast that is well known is Miah Persson. She is the star of the show; she is beautiful to behold, acts superbly and is a terrific singer. What a package! The rest of the cast are all top notch, particularly the Despina sung by Ainho Garmedia

The orchestral playing (on period instrument) under the direction of Ivan Fisher is lively, sparkling and true to the spirit of Mozart. Added to this is the good sound and filming. All in all this version of Cosi van Tutti must take its place as the best version on DVD to date.