Cosi Fan Tutte: Glyndebourne Festival Opera (Fischer) [2010] [Region Free]

This production of Cosi fan tutte was recorded at Glyndebourne in 2006 which was the first year of this production's staging there. The production by Nicholas Hytner is totally traditional in feel and this will come as a great relief to those who despair of the tendency of modern opera producers to feel the need to focus on their own inspiration rather than that of the plot and music. At no discernible point is either the plot or Mozart's inspiration compromised here. The period established in the production is completely reasonable as are the sets and costumes even though it is probably a little later than originally conceived. The conclusion of the opera brings an interesting twist which may warn us that playing with emotions may lead to unforeseen consequences.The period feel of the production is underpinned by the use of the aptly named Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment with their leader being appropriately named as Margaret Faultless. This choice of `authentic period' orchestra leads to much improved orchestral balance and timbres and, in the hands of conductor Ivan Fischer, a bitingly exciting delivery of the music, both instrumental and vocal. Although there will be those who will maintain that there is no actual way of being sure that this is what Mozart would have heard, in my opinion, the proof is in the listening and in this case the case for such an orchestra is made clearly enough.The cast is, without doubt, uniformly excellent and rise wonderfully well to the challenges of live performance in the context of the likely `authentic' sounds produced by the orchestra. The tempi are challengingly fast at times but never breathless and there is always time made for sensitivity, proper phrasing and moments of doubt and reflection.The two girls are perfectly cast with Miah Persson and Anke Vondung being a suitably lively and attractive pair of young women. Both obviously relish their respective roles as Fiordiligi and Dorabella and also each other's stage company and there is a good deal of naturally spontaneous-sounding humour provided for the audience to enjoy. This same free-wheeling behaviour is both encouraged and shared as directed in the plot by the excellent Despina performed by Ainhoa Garmendia. All three women are fully on top of the technical and musical demands of their roles and this enables them to `play' together.The three men are well up to this standard too with Ferrando and Guglielmo delivering multi-nuanced performances as appropriate along with their `friend' Don Alfonso. These roles are delivered with great flair by Topi Lehtipuu, Luca Pisaroni and Nicholas Rivenq respectively. As a group of six they seem to make a perfect combination and are certainly the best I have ever had the privilege to watch.There are short bonus items in the form of an illustrated synopsis and interviews with the conductor and producer as well as with some of the cast. There is also an animated cast gallery.The recording is particularly clear visually and gives great clarity and detail while still delivering on colour definition. The sound is equally fine with clearly defined detail both on stage and in the orchestra and with good balance. It is presented in both DTS 5.1 and stereo options.This is an exhilarating production and performance likely to give enormous pleasure upon repeat viewing. In my opinion this is one of the best Mozart discs I have yet to see or own and I have enjoyed it as such every time I have seen it in the years since I bought it. I am sure most future purchasers will have much the same responses and therefore a 5 star assessment seems completely appropriate.

Cosi fan Tutti is probably my favourite opera and this may explain why I currently have 3 versions on Blu-ray, having previously surrendered an older performance on dvd. Each time I listen to this opera my preference is reinforced as each wonderful melody follows one after another. Surely, this must be Mozart's most sublime operatic achievement?The Opera is just overflowing with wonderful tunes. When I watched it again last night I felt compelled to write this review and to sing the praises of this superb Glyndebourne production which, in my opinion, is the very best performance that I have ever seen.This is a traditional production but under Nicholas Hytner's direction the plot seems to be more credible than I remember with other versions, while at the same time retaining the comic elements. In part this is also due to very competent acting from all the singers. But it is the singing which will ultimately be the deciding factor and this production has it in spades. As soon as I heard the opening notes of `Ah, guarda, sovella' I knew that this was going to be something special. And as opera lovers will know, this glorious music continues until the final note!Technically, this disc is up there with the best with a beautifully sharp picture and with fine detail on the close-ups. I have read other reviews which have been critical of the poor lighting, de-saturated colour palette and the bland assortment of pastel ambience. For my money I thought that the picture quality was very pleasing and entirely appropriate for the production. The sound is excellent with a choice of Dolby True HD 5.0 and a 2.0 option, my preference being the former. The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment played superbly under Ivan Fischer's direction with good balance between orchestra and singers. The menu system works well and, unlike a recent Blu-ray that I reviewed, the chapters moved along with the performance. This should happen with every disc but it cannot be taken for granted! There are several interesting extras about the artists and the production and these are all recorded in high definition.Finally, I note that one reviewer had a problem with lip sych. I am pleased to report that there was no problem on my equipment and I suspect that it will not trouble most people. In fact I have never had a single blu-ray with synchronisation problems. However, such problems are quite common on ordinary dvd's. I guess that with low definition video there is a false assumption that viewers will not notice poor lip synchronisation because of the lower quality picture?If you only want one version of Cosi then this is the version to buy. If you don't know the music, why not give it a try? It could soon become your favourite opera!