Elizabeth Karani is a multi-talented Despina in Così fan tutte. Photo: Craig Fuller
Mozart I Così fan tutte
Opera Holland Park / Charlotte Corderoy
Women are all the same… They all do and act that way… No English translation of the title has the brevity of Così fan tutte, composed by Mozart at his not so brief finest. But in a heat-infused new production at Opera Holland Park, four women in particular illustrate vividly how wrong a title can be.
In the pit, conducting the ever effervescent City of London Sinfonia, Charlotte Corderoy demonstrates why she was chosen as the Critics’ Circle emerging conductor of 2025. She pounces playfully on this delectable score, keeping it the air like a diabolo, the scintillating players pulling off their own feats.
While not every singer has her legerdemain, English National Opera Harewood Artist Madeline Boreham, in the switchback soprano role of Fiordiligi, stands out among the quartet of criss-crossed lovers, taking a deep dive into the composers’s demanding “Come scoglio”.
Madeline Boreham as Fiordiligi. Photo: Craig Fuller
Third among equals is director Cecilia Stinton, wringing every last drop of Italian sunshine out of 1960s Naples, her dolce vita entertainingly designed by Neil Irish. We arrive in the city by plane, brought into land by a hastily boilersuited Elizabeth Karani, our Despina for the night, and much more besides. Here she is again, checking passports, and at the hotel reception, and wrestling with spaghetti, and, above all, proving that all women are not the same. Her consistent wit, distinctive personality and vocal ease make even the often charmless “doctor” call-out entertaining.
Doing their best to keep up with these four talents are the other lovers, Australian/Cypriot mezzo-soprano Shakira Tsindos as Dorabella, tenor Osian Wyn Bowen as Ferrando, making his OHP debut, and, returning to OHP after his 2024 Figaro in Rossini’s Barber of Seville, baritone Paul Grant, as Guglielmo. Add to the mix reliable Paul Carey Jones as meddling Don Alfonso, and the Act I sextet becomes a soaring marvel that, in the moment itself, convinces you that no human ever created a greater thing. (This happens with the Act I trio “Soave sia il vento” too…)
But back to earth, and the problem posed by Così fan tutte. Can two women, tricked into marrying relative strangers while their fiances are away, really give in so easily, and then retrench once their betrotheds are back? Stinton makes light work of this, dressing the usurpers as fetching centurions, and letting the question of wrong choices hang over the finale.
Paul Carey Jones as Don Alfonso. Photo: Craig Fuller
Here Ferrando and Guglielmo, who are of a height and on the bland side, switch places easily. Fiordiligi and Dorabella are modern young women and quick to manoeuvre. What happens in Naples stays in Naples. or does it? Wouldn’t you love to revisit these couples seven years on?
This masterpiece, with its intimate dynamics and showstoppers, thoroughly suits the scale and atmosphere of Opera Holland Park. The company celebrates its 30th year with ambition, musicianship and a growing audience. When CEO and director of opera James Clutton introduced the first night of Così he asked how many ticket-holders were there for the first time, a spinney of arms went up. How heartening.
Così fan tutte is sung in Italian with English surtitles. Further performances are on 2, 4, 9, 11 and 13 June. A relaxed Young Artists Performance is on 7 June.