A Night At The Opera!

Having gone on the backstage tour at the Essen Opera House, we were really excited to see a performance there. We saw the opera “Cosi fan Tutte” by Mozart with Uncle Soto, Tante Gisela, and my cousin Sophia. I had never heard of this opera before and I was excited to see it. Since the opera was sung in Italian, there were German subtitles on a screen above the stage so the audience could understand what was going on in the performance. My dad was able to translate the words in the songs so Zoe and I knew what was happening.

The opera takes place in Italy and is about two men named Ferrando (Michael Smallwood) and Guglielmo (Martijn Cornet) who are in love with the sisters Dorabella (Karin Strobos) and Fiordiligi (Sharon Kempton). Ferrando and Guglielmo have a friend Don Alfonso (Baurzhan Anderzhanov) who says all women are unfaithful. Using the sisters’ maid Despina (Christina Clark) as an accomplice, he proposes a bet of 100 sequins if the two men do what he says for a day, he can prove the sisters are unfaithful like all women. Ferrando and Guglielmo agree, and so unfolds the opera with none of the characters thinking of the consequences this bet may bring about….

The orchestra who provided the music for the opera was very good. Conducted by Yannis Pouspourikas, the full orchestra played the music perfectly to compliment the opera. I find it incredible how the conductor is able to conduct the whole orchestra, keep the singers in time, and follow the music score all at once!

When we went on the backstage tour of the theatre, we learned the stage could do various movements. It was able to rise, lower, and spin. During “Cosi fan Tutte”, the stage rose and lowered to show the actors walking up and down the stairs. I found this really enhanced the show as it made everything on stage look like it was actually happening in real life.

There was quite a few set pieces in the performance. At one point in the performance, the two sisters were in a garden with a number of lawn ornaments in the shapes of ladies wearing red dresses. I think the the red colour was used to symbolize emotions in the opera like love, anger, and passion.

The costuming was mixed in this opera. At some points, the costumes were more modern when the couples were happily together, and at other times, it was more medieval in style. There were quite a few costume changes for the actors, including a few onstage. My favourite costumes were worn by Ferrando and Guglielmo when they dressed up as “Albanians” in black suits with vertical white stripes and flowery vests underneath.

I had a special connection with this opera because my uncle Soto played the part of Ferrando many times and my aunt Antigone has played the role of Dorabella in another performance.

I didn’t know that Mozart had written any operas before and I was pleasantly surprised. The singing and accompanying music was very lovely. I would really recommend this opera, no matter where it is being performed.