Cosi fan Tutte (Complete opera recorded in 1994)

"This fizzing period Così is a welcome reissue in the Brilliant Opera Collection at super-budget price. It won't topple any others off their perch, but it's good to set alongside them, and at this price you can afford to indulge...the orchestral playing is good enough to win it a place on any shelf. Furthermore the singing is good in enough places to make it competitive. More importantly, it just feels right, and that's important for this piece where mood and atmosphere can have such an impact on the reading. I might even suggest that, next to the frenzied Jacobs and the rather serious Gardiner, this could come close to being a prime choice for a period version."
(MusicWeb April 2009)

The last of the great collaborations with librettist Lorenzo da Ponte, Così fan tutte was, for many years, considered unworthy of a composer of Mozart's genius. The problem was the frivolous nature of the plot, and its misogynistic theme - testing the fidelity of women through a series of tricks pulled by their lovers. Dig deeper, however, and a clever comedy of manners emerges. Mozart's genius in depicting human emotions and frailties is breathtaking. His simultaneous mix of the comic, the cruel and the serious has seldom been used to such effect by any composer before or since - and even with such a skilled librettist as da Ponte, the quality of the music far outshines that of the text.

Today Così fan tutte is ranked rightly alongside Mozart's other great operas.

Recording made originally by Accent in 1994

Isokoski, Groop and Argenta are renowned performers of this repertoire

Kuijken is one of the foremost period-performance conductors

Booklet contains an introduction to the opera and a comprehensive synopsis of the plot

Complete non-copyright libretto available for download at www.brilliantoperacollection.com