An Operatic School for Laughter
Cosí fan tutte (La scuola degli amanti), the third and final collaboration between Mozart and librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte, was first performed in Vienna in January of 1790. Although it was initially well received, critics throughout the nineteenth century often condemned the opera, and most productions altered the text or tried to separate the music from the libretto entirely. Even though Cosí fan tutte has returned to the stage in its original form over the past century, the opera still sits uncomfortably with some modern audiences because its story is often perceived as either foolish or cynically cruel.
Cosí fan tutte is, however, a sophisticated comedy that relies on irony and on an awareness of its own theatricality. The libretto is filled with allusions to a variety of literary sources, some of which would have been recognized by only a small part of the original audience. But the opera also contains references to current events, to well-known stories and myths, and to recent operas (including Mozart and Da Ponte's own Marriage of Figaro, quoted in the overture) that would have been recognized by a larger part of Mozart's audience.
The opera's self-conscious operatic references can be heard most clearly in the composer's and librettist's sketching of the various characters, each of whom draws on distinct operatic traditions and exaggerates them. Fiordiligi, whose name is ironically taken from a character who is faithful unto death in Ariosto’s epic Orlando furioso, sings arias that are in the elevated opera seria style. Her first solo number, “Come scoglio” is a simile aria comparing her faithfulness to “a rock standing impervious to winds and tempest,” but the rapid changes that characterize her musical lines and our knowledge of her future change of heart give lie to her earnest statements. Dorabella sings arias in both serious and comic styles. In the first act her music resembles Fiordiligi’s protests of devotion and even goes beyond it, but by the second, her tune has changed; for example, her aria “É amore un ladroncello” takes on a comic tone. The exchanges between the sisters show a humorous rivalry in demonstrating the extent of their suffering for love, mixing a serious topic with a comic approach. When Fiordiligi asks Guglielmo to write a letter every day, Dorabella asks for two; when Fiordiligi requests a dagger to kill herself in case her lover dies, Dorabella declares that she has no need for a weapon and would die of grief alone; and when Fiordiligi states that she will die without her love, Dorabella counters that she will bury herself alive.
Despina is cast as a more typical buffa character, a worldly servant of questionable morals. She sings two catalogue arias, both of which are in a compound musical meter suggesting low social status. One lists the ways in which men are deceitful (“In uomini, in soldati”); the other enumerates the tricks that women should know to manipulate men (“Una donna a quindici anni”). Her roles in the finales to the two acts as magnetic doctor (a nod to Mozart’s family friendship with Anton Mesmer?) and as an officious notary, are squarely in the buffa tradition, including use of incorrect Latin and exaggerated disguises.
The parodies of opera character types heighten the confusion about the ambiguous romantic pairings. Ferrando, who begins the opera as Dorabella’s beloved, is cast from a seria mold, like Fiordiligi. When he finally wins over Fiordiligi’s heart near the end of the opera, it is unclear whether he is still acting his part or is in earnest. Similarly, Guglielmo’s arias and buffa characterization match the flightier Dorabella, but the depth of the bitterness he expresses leaves room for doubt about the nature of his role.
Don Alfonso, the philosopher and instigator of the lessons in this school for lovers, does not fit precisely into any of these operatic molds, and in fact his character has clearer literary forbears than operatic ones. Don Alfonso and the lessons he imparts are principally responsible for Cosí fan tutte's reputation as heartless and cynical. He is described as an old philosopher yet he does not truly resemble the comic philosophers of other operas, nor any other operatic type or character. However, he does embody the various definitions of philosophers as they were known in Mozart’s time. He represents the enlightenment philosophe, learned in his quotations and references, as he experiments with characters in an almost scientific manner (although he seems certain of his desired results throughout the opera). He also represents philosophical wisdom and its idealized ability to be untroubled by the cares of the world.
Don Alfonso has no proper arias, but still manages to dominate the musical texture by his involvement in ensembles, frequently commenting on the situation and laughing at it. Don Alfonso’s laughter is a sign of his philosophical detachment and ability to remain untroubled by the cares of the world, and at the end of the opera he invites the other characters to share in his laughter now that they also share in his wisdom.
– Mona Seghatoleslami
A student pursuing her M.A. Musicology and
M.L.S. in the School of Library and Information Science
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