Cosi Fan Tutte

A very modern staging is tied to a decidedly old-fashioned reading of the score in this 2001 performance of Mozart's wonderful 1790 dramma giocoso from the Berlin Staatsoper. Director Doris D(rrie has updated the frothy plot--concerning two fellows who, on a bet, test the fidelity of their sweethearts by disguising themselves and romancing each other's fianc(es--to the “free love” 1970s, with the men portrayed as businessmen who take on the role of hippies to fool (and attract) the girls. Visually, the result is a garish operatic version of Hair, and while it hardly goes as far, the viewer may still be taken aback when Guglielmo strips down to his underpants at one point or Ferrando unbuttons Dorabella's dress to scrawl an initial on her bra (which Guglielmo later brandishes as a trophy of conquest). On the podium, however, Daniel Barenboim takes an approach that might charitably be described as traditional, favoring slow tempi and such heavy ritards at the close of individual scenes that some final chords sound positively elephantine (the recitatives are also taken at a very ponderous pace). The singing is generally good, though the Despina is a bit pallid, and the sound--with DTS, Dolby Digital 5.1, and PCM stereo options--is generally fine, although the voices recede badly when the singers amble to the right and left reaches of the crosswalk surrounding the orchestra. Overall, this is a performance that lacks fizz, and the staging might encourage you to close your eyes while listening (hardly a great selling point for a DVD). An optional purchase, at best. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek)