Love Island-esque opera will put a smile on your face

Cosi fan tutte may date back to 1790 but its stars are making a song and dance about how modern it still is, writes Emma

Acomedic, tragic, dramatic opera likened to the addictive reality dating show Love Island will burst on to stage at Auckland’s Aotea Centre on Wednesday.

New Zealand Opera’s production of Cosi fan tutte, colloquially translated to ‘‘women are like that’’ is a modern-day story of a group of young couples who enter a game of deception, heartbreak and infidelity.

The opera is a collaboration between Wolfgang Mozart and Lorenzo da Ponte, first premiering in Vienna in 1790, and becoming a staple in opera circles ever since.

Don Alfonso (played by Andrew Foster-Williams) is convinced that women cannot be faithful to their partners, and in order to prove his point, suggests his younger friends Ferrando (Jonathan Abernethy) and Guglielmo (Julien Van Mellaerts) put their partners’ loyalty to the test.

Alfonso enters into a bet with the two men – who tell their fiance´es, Fiordiligi (Emma Pearson) and Dorabella (Hanna Hipp) they were leaving for war, before returning dressed as Albanian soldiers, ready to do anything to seduce the lonely women.

Chaos soon ensues, as the couples’ loyalty to each other collapses, and true personalities and motives are revealed.

Pearson said her character was a ‘‘tour de force’’, whose faithfulness to her partner holds strong for most of the opera.

‘‘As the oldest sibling in the family, she feels like she is the responsible one,’’ Pearson said.

‘‘My character tries to prove the bet wrong, and she has to be broken down to change her ways.’’

Van Mellaerts described his character as ‘‘tricky’’ and ‘‘very easily distracted’’.

‘‘He buys into the bet of trying to seduce the girls very quickly,’’ Van Mellaerts explained.

‘‘In the beginning he is funloving,

but when the opportunity to seduce [arises] he takes it. He goes through with sleeping with his best friend’s fiance´ e and rubs his face in it.’’

Van Mellaerts had to grapple with his character’s personality shifting halfway through the opera, as he becomes ‘‘quite nasty to his friends and partner’’.

Van Mellaerts said Guglielmo is a bit of a ‘‘misogynist’’, trying to justify his actions.

‘‘He has a rant about how [his behaviour] is the women’s fault, and we see a side of him that is not attractive.’’

Pearson and Van Mellaerts said the opera championed women, who are given ‘‘a lot of power’’ throughout the story due to director Lindy Hume’s creative direction.

‘‘In the past, some people might make a joke about men playing a trick on the women,’’ Pearson said.

‘‘[But] anything that is not keeping with our modern-day tastes [and attitudes] is looked down upon.’’

Hume said she aimed to challenge the ‘‘provocative claim’’ the opera’s title makes, that ‘‘women are all like that’’.

‘‘[We] show no two women (or men) are alike in this opera, and to explore love, desire and infidelity as big, complex human experiences that are very relatable,’’ Hume said.

The actors likened the opera to Love Island due to the partner swapping and insular nature of the small cast.

‘‘You are in a capsule, your world is just about these six characters,’’ Pearson explained.

Cosi fan tutte’s music is renowned for its ‘‘exquisite beauty and dexterity’’, with ‘‘dramatically challenging arias’’, Pearson said.

Pearson has also been working with a language coach, as the opera is in Italian.

‘‘It’s always a challenge to sing in a different language, and you need to be able to get the right emphasis on the right word,’’ Pearson said.

This shouldn’t put audiences off, though – as the performance will have surtitles – like subtitles – translating the opera to English on a screen above the stage.

The opera is extremely modern compared to the version performed in 1790, with actors dressed in costumes that are clothes you’d see in 2023 – tracksuits and fluffy slippers, for example, and short, bright, colourful cocktail dresses.

Van Mellaerts equated his costume to Johnny Depp in the Pirates of the Caribbean in some scenes, and smart tuxedos in others.

Why should opera-lovers see Cosi fan tutte? The actors emphasised the element of fun that shines throughout the performance.

‘‘It’s bright, light and colourful, it’s music that makes you feel good and puts a smile on your face,’’ Pearson said.

Mozart and da Ponte had made a point to make fun of the characters, using their behaviour to show ‘‘everyone is flawed’’, Van Mellaerts said. ‘‘It’s going to make you laugh, but it’s also going to make you think.’’

Cosi fan tutte opens in Auckland this week and plays at the Kiri Te Kanawa Theatre May 31 – June 4, Wellington’s St James Theatre 14 – 18 June, and the Isaac Theatre Royal Christchurch June 28 – July 2. Tickets can be booked at nzopera. com.