Cosi Fan Tutte

This 2009 Salzburg Festival mounting of Mozart's beloved 1790 opera features a modernistic living-room set and contemporary costumes, but what's most striking about director Claus Guth's odd staging is the way in which he reinterprets the comic tale of two besotted young men persuaded by their older and wiser friend, Don Alfonso, to disguise themselves and romance each others' girlfriends to test the women's fidelity. Here, Guth turns Alfonso into a malevolent spirit who simply compels all of the other characters to do his bidding (omitting any need for the elaborate get-ups integral to the fun of most productions), while also introducing other strange effects with meanings that remain obscure, such as trees that sprout inside the house. The end result is a much darker, less humorous piece, which is a pity, since musically this Cosi Fan Tutte is quite good. Florian Boesch and Topi Lehtipuu are superb as Guglielmo and Ferrando, with Miah Persson and Isabel Leonard equally strong as their counterparts, Fiordiligi and Dorabella. But the usually reliable Bo Skovhus seems more interested in scowling than singing as Alfonso, and Patricia Petibon (clad in tank top, jeans, and boots) mugs too much as the maid, Despina, although her voice is solid. The Vienna Philharmonic plays marvelously for conductor Adam Fischer, while the sound—DTS 5.0, Dolby Digital 5.0, and PCM stereo on DVD, and DTS-HD 5.1 and PCM stereo on Blu-ray—and camerawork are excellent. But the traditional mountings from Glyndebourne (VL-3/08) and Zurich (VL-9/10) are preferable. Optional. (F. Swietek)