Review: Vancouver Opera’s cheeky Così fan tutte satirizes men as much as women
Set handsomely in a hotel lounge in the Canadian Rockies, the show features a strong and comedically adept cast that helps finesse a fun new spin on Mozart’s original
Alex Hetherington, Tracy Dahl, and Jamie Groote in Vancouver Opera’s Così fan tutte. Photo by Emily Cooper
Vancouver Opera presents Così fan tutte at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on February 12 and 15
THE AUDIENCE HAD big reasons to laugh its way through Vancouver Opera’s lighthearted Così fan Tutte on opening night, starting with the two bushy-bearded logjammers, a magically gliding red canoe, and a notary who looked like Mr. Magoo in drag.
But underlying the gags was also some clever, cheeky play with the original’s battle of the sexes, with a strong and comedically adept cast finessing a fun new spin on a story that has long been criticized as cynical and problematic in its portrayal of women. (This is the first time in 20 years VO has staged it—and the classic has been resurrected a lot lately, with new twists being produced across the country and in the U.K.)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s opera centres on two sisters whose boyfriends decide to disguise themselves to see how easily the ladies are led astray; cue many jabs at women’s supposed “fickleness”. But in this raucous, proudly set-in-Canada production, the men are satirized as much as the women. Leading the charge is a scene-stealing Tracy Dahl, reprising her signature role as Despina, a maid who ends up orchestrating a lot of the mayhem and encouraging the women to take agency.
In a production that originated at Manitoba Opera, set designer Sheldon Johnson and director Robert Herriot move the original Naples setting to a handsome 1930s hotel in the Canadian Rockies. Watch closely during the overture to catch the entire wordless set-up, where the two Italian-tourist sisters Fiordiligi and Dorabella fall for two Mounties, Ferrando and Guglielmo.
Bass-baritone Daniel Okulitch’s cynical Don Alfonso rolls his eyes at Ferrando and Guglielmo’s naiveté, swearing the women will break if the men pretend to go off to battle, then disguise themselves as lumberjacks to come back and try to seduce them. As the rakish Don, Okulitch is hilariously sarcastic throughout, at one point feigning support as the women bid adieu to their Mounties, then killing himself laughing once they aren’t looking.
The highlights of Mozart’s score are the exquisite ensembles, and the singing here more than lives up to that promise, as when Okulitch, Groote, and Hetherington pull off a beautifully modulated rendition of the opera’s well-known farewell song to the men, “Soave sia il vento”. Groote and Hetherington have a sister-like onstage chemistry that extends to voices that interweave nicely. For her part, Groote effortlessly flows through the full emotions of her extended “Per pietà”, her soprano revealing unusual richness. As Mountie Ferrando, Owen McCausland has a sweet, rounded tenor that is a lovely foil for the baritone of Clarence Frazer, as his fellow Mountie Guglielmo. Dahl, even amid shenanigans, pulls off some crack singing, including a playful “In uomini, in soldati, sperare fedeltà?”, when she encourages the sisters to have some fun while their fiancés are away. At one point she jumps into one of the women’s laps to swing her legs, then pops behind the bar to lustily throw herself at the bartender.
Under the baton of Leslie Dala, the music’s delicate ornamentations and flowing ensembles are polished to a fine sheen, and the tempo is never rushed. In one of the show’s cleverest twists, the original harpsichord becomes an onstage lounge piano played by Tina Chang, who wears a sparkly deco gown and swills a cocktail between numbers.
Keeping it all moving along is no small task, as Così is much lighter on plot than, say, Mozart’s near-perfect Marriage of Figaro or Don Giovanni. Little happens in the long second act, but Herriot helps by filling each scene with stage business, largely around the hotel lobby bar. And when the plot gets ridiculous—say, when the two lumberjacks pretend to down “poison”—the direction leans right into the silliness. The bottles have gigantic skulls and crossbones on them. And when Dahl’s Despina steps in to revive them, the scene is part Burton-esque ode to The Bride of Frankenstein, part tribute to Canadian-winter jumper cables.
Slapstick aside, this Così looks as elegant as it sounds. There’s one scene of early-evening drinks that’s bathed in pink sunset light, the women dressed in rose and midnight-blue screen-siren gowns. Throughout, a rotation of vintage Rockies postcards is projected onto a mammoth backdrop frame that has little corner wedges straight out of an antique photo album.
It’s all a night of light fun—right to a witty, surprise punchline that gives a final thumb of the nose to the men’s deceptions. Call it a Così with paddle power. 
Clarence Frazer, Daniel Okulitch, and Owen McCausland in Vancouver Opera’s Così Fan Tutte.
Related Articles
