"Christophe Honoré, better known as a novelist and auteur film
director, also took the bold step of relocating the action from
18th-century Naples to 1930s Eritrea in the era of Italian rule"
http://theconversation.com/cosi-fan-tutte-racial-and-sexual-abuse-should-shock-audiences-not-the-titillation-64504
Così Fan Tutte: racial and sexual abuse should shock audiences, not
the titillation
August 26, 2016 11.49am EDT
The new production of Mozart and Lorenzo da Ponte’s classic opera Così
Fan Tutte has attracted no shortage of controversy. After its premiere
in Aix-en-Provence in France in July, the organisers of the Edinburgh
International Festival wrote to all ticket holders offering a refund
“due to the adult nature of some of the scenes” and its unsuitability
for younger audiences.
Christophe Honoré, better known as a novelist and auteur film
director, also took the bold step of relocating the action from
18th-century Naples to 1930s Eritrea in the era of Italian rule.
We certainly need more gritty and relevant opera productions. Opera in
the 18th century was often used as a way of commentating on issues of
the day, especially the opera buffa style, which distinguishes comic
operas like Così Fan Tutte from the tragedies. There is no reason why
present-day productions should not reflect this.
When it comes to staging a classic work, directors need to choose
whether to follow the original in detail, using costumes and
instruments to recreate a static idea; or try to capture the
original’s impact at the time. Thankfully scholars and performers
nowadays agree that both approaches are legitimate – Honoré’s
production just leans towards the latter category.
Then and now
Così Fan Tutte is one of Mozart’s most popular operas, but it was not
often performed in the 19th century because the subject matter was
considered vulgar. It tells the story of two girls, Fiordiligi and
Dorabella, whose soldier lovers are called away to war.
A man named Don Alfonso has made a bet with the two soldiers that the
girls will not be faithful, claiming that women never are. The
soldiers come back in disguise to try and seduce one another’s lovers
to prove Don Alfonso wrong – though in the end they lose.
The soldiers and their lovers. Edinburgh International Festival
Honoré has added sexual subplots which serve to highlight the high
sexism in da Ponte’s original plot, which is often glossed over. The
original takes a very dim view of women’s morals and even intelligence
– extreme even by 18th-century standards. In the new production,
Honoré’s attempts to balance the ledger include a scene where the
soldier Ferrando forces one of the chorus actors into sex when he
discovers that Dorabella has been unfaithful to him.
Honoré continually seeks to emphasise the despicable nature of the
male characters going out to trap their lovers through deception. The
ending is particularly memorable in this respect. Where the women
normally either return to their original lovers – or in some versions
stick with the ones they “married” in disguise – Honoré’s Fiordiligi
sings that she “deserves death” for betraying her fiancee. She then
wanders around the stage with his musket to her chin as if to end her
life until the final curtain drops.
Fiordiligi and Dorabella. Edinburgh International Festival
Black comedy
Other new subplots comment on race and colonialism, often mingled with
sexual abuse. Before the overture is a scene of two native girls
dancing to a record playing a song criticising Mussolini. It is then
torn off the record player and broken to pieces by one of the white
soldiers, who goes on to rape one of the girls during the overture.
The Eritrean characters are mistreated throughout – mainly through
heavy groping or outright rape. Race is also intermingled with the
main plot when the soldiers, who disguise themselves as Albanians in
the original, black up as Eritreans in this version.
This is about highlighting an underlying tragedy within the farce, but
substituting colonialism and skin colour for the Albanian
Muslim/Italian Christian antipathy in da Ponte’s version. Too often in
the past, this has been masked by spectacular costumes and beautiful
singing.
One patron on the opening night in Edinburgh caught the mood when she
said: “This is not a ‘pretty-pretty’ production and that suits the
story so much better.”
The programme notes were peppered with quotations on the nature of
love and cruelty, paying homage to the opera’s subtitle “La scuola
degli amanti” (the lovers' school). Honoré writes in the notes:
My intention is the same as [da Ponte’s]: that for the lightness and
irresponsibility of the comedy of love you should substitute the
shamelessness and cruelty of tragic passion attacked by humour.
Tragedy and farce. Edinburgh International Festival
Curtain call
The casting draws together singers from all over the world, not all of
whom were period specialists, but who blended in the ensembles like
they had been singing together their entire lives. The acting from the
main characters is outstanding.
The actors and singers of the chorus, drawn from the Cape Town Opera,
add to the Eritrean setting and give poignant substance to Honoré’s
revelations of the darker side of empire building. Meanwhile vibrato
singing is kept to a decorative minimum, while the words were clear
even in the upper circle.
Is the controversy justified? To some extent it will depend on your
perspective. Apart from simulated sex and naked breasts at one point,
most of the shock value was in the racial and sexual abuse.
You could sense that parts of the audience were shocked at white
colonials groping black natives, albeit there are a lot of
(non-racial) gropings in Mozart productions anyway. Friends and
academics I have spoken to were not shocked – perhaps it depends on
your exposure. In sum, it has probably been a bit of a storm in a
teacup. But don’t let that detract from the performance as a whole.
Honoré’s update of Mozart has important things to say about women and
race. It is exactly what opera should be all about.
Received on Sat Aug 27 2016 - 09:47:03 EDT