Così Fan Tutte

Mozart's 1790 opera—about two friends who don disguises and exchange their fiancées (who are sisters) in a bet meant to test the women's fidelity—is often dismissed as a frivolous trifle, but not by Austrian film director Michael Haneke, who treats the story as a melancholy fable about the vagaries of romance and emotional turmoil of relationships in this 2013 production from the Teatro Real de Madrid. Amidst a striking set featuring a luxurious modern villa, the young couples wear contemporary dress, but elderly Don Alfonso, who initiates the wager, sports an 18th-century costume, and the girls' maid, Dorabella (who in this version is Alfonso's unhappy wife as well as co-conspirator), is clad in vaguely clown-like garb. Haneke's dramatic staging features repeated expressions of anger and pain, along with a recitative that's extraordinarily slow and pointed, and conductor Sylvain Cambreling complements the approach with a deliberate but sensual reading of the score. Soloists Anett Fritsch, Paola Gardina, Juan Francisco Gatell, Andreas Wolf, Kerstin Avemo, and William Schimell do not possess voices of enormous range or richness, but all acquit themselves ably while meeting Haneke's dramatic demands. A dark take on Mozart's ebullient confection that theoretically shouldn't work, but Haneke and his collaborators pull this alternate rendition off well. Traditionalists will prefer something like the 2006 Glyndebourne mounting (VL-9/10), but this performance is beautifully realized on its own unique terms and makes a worthy adjunct. Presented in DTS 5.1 (DTS-HD 5.1 on the Blu-ray release) and PCM stereo, extras include an interview with Haneke. Highly recommended. (F. Swietek)