Così Fan Tutte – review

The second instalment of the Royal Opera's Mozart-Da Ponte cycle is a revival by Harry Fehr of Jonathan Miller's 1995 staging of Così Fan Tutte. In many respects, this is a great performance, one that transcends a number of individual flaws within it.

Its coherence is largely due to Colin Davis's conducting. His lifelong fondness for the work is readily apparent in the subtleties of emotion, colour and meaning he brings to the score. The poignancy that underscores the Così Fan Tutte motto in the overture seems prophetic of the sadness that later seeps into the music as the protagonists' sexual games gradually spiral out of control. It is gloriously played.

You might, however, have minor reservations about some of the casting. Malin Byström's Fiordiligi, taxed by Come Scoglio on opening night, did not fully come into her own until the second act, when the comedy evaporates and emotional uncertainty looms. Michèle Losier's Dorabella, meanwhile, overdoes the self-dramatisation, for which Fehr, who has her downing tranquillisers at one point, may be partly responsible.

Losier does, however, generate considerable erotic charge in her duet with Nikolay Borchev's Guglielmo – one of the great performances of the role and a beautifully characterised portrait of a man whose bravado masks immense vulnerability. Charles Castronovo's voice has darkened since I last heard him, but he remains an impeccably stylish Ferrando. Rosemary Joshua's brilliant Despina is matched by Thomas Allen's familiar, if dangerously charming Alfonso: the revival marks the 40th anniversary of his Royal Opera debut. This is not, perhaps, a perfect Così, but it is an extraordinarily moving one.