Glyndebourne Live on Your Desktop

Here is exciting news to me, and it may be both news and exciting to you, too. The Guardian will be streaming six Glyndebourne productions this summer—three live and three previously recorded.

First, on Tuesday June 4, is the new production of Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos, directed by Katharina Thoma. The cast includes Sir Thomas Allen (Music Master), Soile Isokoski (Ariadne), Kate Lindsey (Composer), Laura Claycomb (Zerbinetta), and Sergey Skorokhodov (Bacchus). 

Cosi Fan Tutte – Salzburg M22 (Part 3: Marry Me A Little)

The ending of Cosi is ambiguous and ripe for interpretation—especially once the men have seduced both sisters. Alfonso says the best revenge is to marry the sisters. But he doesn't say which one each should marry. 

In the original, it’s assumed they should marry their original partners; but many have argued convincingly that the new pairs are better matched.

Cosi Fan Tutte – Salzburg M22 (Part 2: Fencing, the Feather, the Apple, and the Egg)

The Fencing:  In the opening scene Don Alfonso (Sir Thomas Allen) is coaching  Ferrando (Shawn Mathey) and Guglielmo (Stéphane Degout) in fencing skills. The swordplay is a clear image to associate with the conflicts in the opera. In the opening of Act 2, the sisters mirror the boys by pretending to fence with their fans.

Cosi Fan Tutte – Salzburg M22 (Part 1: Who is what, and which is who?)

I noted the other day the customer reviewer on Amazon.com who complained that this Cosi was confusing because he couldn’t tell which sister was which and which lover was which, and I thought Aha! That’s the point, isn’t it? Maybe it really doesn’t matter who ends up with whom.

In many (if not most) modern productions of Cosi, there seems to be a conscious directorial decision to create this confusion. Mozart and da Ponte have certainly set us up for this. The four young people are in love with love. They like the idea of being with someone. But it’s not clear if they are really meant to be with each other. In some cases, it’s not clear that they actually exist, other than in Alfonso’s imagination.