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Music

Washington National Opera’s ‘Così fan tutte’ is skillfully out of sync with the times

A fuss-free approach and a stellar cast save Mozart’s rom-com from itself

Review by
From left, Kang Wang, Laura Wilde, Ferruccio Furlanetto and Andrey Zhilikhovsky in “Così fan tutte” at Washington National Opera at the Kennedy Center. (Scott Suchman/The Kennedy Center)
correction

An earlier version of this article incorrectly attributed the projection designs to Ehrhard Rom. They were designed by S. Katy Tucker. This article has been corrected.

“Così fan tutte” is a charming little comedy about two pairs of lovers caught in a whirlwind of passion and doubt, driven by devotion to deception and reconciled in the end by the power of love.

Or, in 2022 terms, it’s the story of two rich bros gaslighting their fiancees, catfishing them with false identities (fake mustaches, the whole bit), coercing them into infidelity, driving them to the brink of madness, claiming it was all a big joke, then blaming women for all the trouble. “Women are like that,” grumbles Don Alfonso, opera’s original mansplainer.