Cosi Fan Tutte (Pafos Aphrodite Festival)

Pafos Aphrodite Festival 2014 opens its curtain and presents the popular, witty opera Cosi Fan Tutte (So do all Women) by the great composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart on 5, 6 and 7 September at the Medieval Castle in Pafos in co-production with the lyric organization Opera Futura from Verona and the participation of the Cyprus Symphony Orchestra.

W.A. Mozart’s masterpiece So do all Women or The school for Lovers (Così fan tutte, ossia La scuola degli amanti) represents the genre of the Italian opera buffa and consists of two acts. The libretto was written by Lorenzo Da Ponte and it premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienna on 26 January 1790. The subject matter of this comic opera was considered rather bold for its time since it told a story of exchanging lovers. Even though the premiere was a great success and the audiences’ response was enthusiastic, for the next half of the century it was rarely performed, and when it did appear it was presented in one of several bowdlerised versions.

The plot continues to enchant audiences even today since it grapples with the timeless issues of love and unfaithfulness, reason and emotion, which co-exist in a comic story where deception entwines with the truth and the facade co-exists with the face.

The pure beauty, the perfection and depth of the music, characteristics of Mozart’s genius, will charm and pleasantly surprise the music loving audience.

For more information please contact the offices of Pafos Aphrodite Festival Cyprus in Pafos at 26822218 or visit the company’s website www.pafc.com.cy . Ticket prices are as following: €25, €40, €50 και €70.

There will be a simultaneous translation in Greek and English via subtitles.

Cosi FanTutte: the Plot

Naples, 18th century

Two young officers, Guglielmo and Ferrando, argue with Don Alfonso regarding the faithfulness of women. The two young men claim that their sweethearts, Fiordiligi and Dorabella, are not capable of unfaithfulness but Don Alfonso disagrees and wagers them. He devises a plan to prove to them that their sweethearts may not be endlessly faithful to them. He tells the two sisters that their fiancés have been called to the front and had to leave immediately. While the two men supposedly depart on a ship, Don Alfonso involves in his intrigue the chambermaid of the two sisters, Despina, asking her, in exchange for money, to convince her mistresses to receive two so called “foreigners” who have fallen in love with them. In the beginning, Fiordiligi and Dorabella remain unmoved by the pleas of the “foreigners” who are none other than Ferrando and Guglielmo in disguise, each courting the other’s girl. In the end the women succumb to them in the midst of pressures including a well-devised fabrication involving fake suicide attempts. The two sisters agree to marry the two “foreigners” and Despina disguises herself as the marriage notary. However, the ceremony is interrupted by the sudden arrival of their “original” fiancés who supposedly chase the two “foreigners” away. The fabrication is revealed but the two couples, thanks to the interference of the resourceful Don Alfonso will compromise.