San Carlo in celebration, eight minutes of applause: cheerful, light, playful, 'Cosi' Fan Tutte' by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was a success, conducted by Riccardo Muti and directed by his daughter Chiara Muti, a new production for the inauguration of the Opera and Dance Season co-produced with the Wiener Staatsoper, which will host Mozart's masterpiece in 2020. Convinced applause also for all the interpreters, the Swedish Maria Bengtsson (Fiordiligi), Paola Gardina (Dorabella) Alessio Arduini (Guglielmo) the Russian Pavel Kolgatin (Fernando) Emmanuelle de Negri (Despina) Marco Filippo Romano (Don Alfonso). Leila Fteita signs the sets, Alessandro Lai the costumes, which surprisingly light up. In the royal box were the President of the Senate, Maria Elisabetta Alberti Casellati, the Ministers of Economy, Giovanni Tria, and of the Environment, Sergio Costa, the Undersecretary to the Presidency of the Council Vincenzo Spadafora, the President of the Campania region Vincenzo De Luca, the Mayor of Naples Luigi de Magistris (president of the Foundation, "proud of the strong institutional presence"), the national anti-mafia prosecutor Federico Cafiero de Raho, the superintendent Rosanna Purchia, Filippo Patroni Griffi, President of the Council of State. As is well known, Mozart's famous two-act drama giocoso with libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte has NAPLES as its backdrop. The director's stylistic choice was not to place the action in a specific era even if the pastel costumes hark back to the 700th century, as soft as the veils and tulle used as curtains and for the scenes where the walls are reflected in a 'box' with a dazzling effect. The idea is that of a 'suspension, a metaphor of our moods' vision of a work that Muti knows deeply and defines as "metaphysical, a profound reflection on human beings". And this is why the scene evokes a Magic Lantern "made of mirrors that reflect what we are in the imagination of those around us. We exist through the gaze of others." Without forgetting the sea in the background. The lights are by Vincent Longuemare, choir master, Gea Garatti. Four performances until December 2nd. The welcome for Riccardo Muti on the podium of the Orchestra and Choir of the San Carlo was extremely warm (there is even a stadium banner signed by high school students), and it could not have been otherwise, as he was eagerly awaited for his return to the Massimo in his hometown for the opera. In fact, thirty-four years have passed since December 1984 when he conducted Verdi's Macbeth, directed by Sandro Sequi, with sets and costumes by Giacomo Manzu'. 'Cosi' Fan Tutte', subtitled 'The School of Lovers', is a love game structured in a geometric plot that involves the four protagonists and overwhelms them. For Muti it is certainly one of the titles of the heart, most loved and performed, from the 'first time' in Salzburg in 1982 in a historic production several times at the Karajan festival and which also arrived at La Scala; among the many performances also that of 1994 when Muti conducted the Mozartian opera in Vienna with the direction of Roberto de Simone, up to today, with the direction of his daughter Chiara, who breathed the masterpiece at home, once again in the sign of Naples. Muti (who had already signed the Marriage of Figaro at the San Carlo) attended the show in the stalls, enjoying the announced triumph and then went up on stage to greet the audience.
Article published on November 26, 2018 - 06:58
