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L Y R I C O P E R A O F C H I C A G O
February 17 - March 16, 2018
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Così fan tutte
After the Curtain Falls
When the performance is over, try discussing it with your companions
and any other opera lovers you know! You can continue your pleasure in
Così fan tutte
for hours – even days – by exchanging ideas about it.
Here are some topics we can suggest:
• What did you find most intriguing about this opera and Lyric’s
production?
• The notion that women are fickle is what propels the story. Is this
true, in your opinion? Why or why not?
• Why do you think Despina chooses to help Don Alfonso and the
men in tricking the sisters? Is this a betrayal of women?
• In Act One, the women remain true to their men. Why does this
make the men work harder instead of accepting that their fiancées
love them?
• This opera is full of misunderstandings and confusion that cause
chaos, on occasion amusingly so. What moments did you find the
most entertaining and funny? Why?
• In the end, everyone accepts that romantic relationships
encompass good and bad times, and that there are lessons to be
learned from them. What are the most valuable lessons in love
that you’ve learned?
• This opera is carefully balanced between arias, duets, trios, and full
ensembles. Speaking just about the music, what moments thrilled
you the most?
To continue enjoying
Così fan tutte
, Lyric dramaturg Roger Pines suggests the following performances:
CD – Renée Fleming, Anne Sofie von Otter, Adelina Scarabelli,
Frank Lopardo, Olaf Bär, Michele Pertusi; London Voices, Chamber
Orchestra of Europe, cond. Sir Georg Solti (Decca)
CD – Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Christa Ludwig, Hanny Steffek, Alfredo
Kraus, Giuseppe Taddei, Walter Berry; Philharmonia Chorus and
Orchestra, cond. Karl Böhm (EMI Great Recordings of the Century)
CD – Véronique Gens, Bernarda Fink, Graciela Oddone, Werner
Güra, Marcel Boone, Pietro Spagnoli; Cologne Chamber Choir,
Concerto Köln, cond. René Jacobs (Harmonia Mundi)
CD – Lella Cuberli, Cecilia Bartoli, Joan Rodgers, Kurt Streit,
Ferruccio Furlanetto, John Tomlinson; RIAS Chamber Chorus, Berlin
Philharmonic, cond. Daniel Barenboim (Warner Classics)
DVD – Miah Persson, Anke Vondung, Ainhoa Garamendia, Topi
Lehtipuu, Luca Pisaroni, Nicolas Rivenq; Glyndebourne Chorus,
Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, cond. Iván Fischer, dir.
Nicholas Hytner (Opus Arte)
DVD – Amanda Roocroft, Rosa Mannion, Eirian James, Rainer Trost,
Rodney Gilfry, Claudio Nicolai; Monteverdi Chorus, English Baroque
Soloists, cond. Sir John Eliot Gardiner, dir. Peter Mumford (DG)
DVD – Sally Matthews, Maite Beaumont, Danielle de Niese, Norman
Shankle, Luca Pisaroni, Garry Magee; Chorus of Dutch National
Opera, Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, cond. Ingo Metzmacher, dir.
Jossi Wieler and Sergio Morabito
DVD – Daniela Dessì, Delores Ziegler, Adelina Scarabelli, Josef
Kundlak, Alessandro Corbelli, Claudio Desderi; Chorus and Orchestra
of La Scala, cond. Riccardo Muti, dir. Michael Hampe (Opus Arte)
DAN REST
Observed by their maid, Despina
(Gianna Rolandi, standing),
Dorabella (Delores Ziegler, seated
right) persuades her worried sister
Fiordiligi (Carol Vaness, seated
center) that she should yield to
temptation:
Così fan tutte
at
Lyric, 1993/94 season.