By Michael Pearl
After the triumph of our first two comic operas in 2020 and 2021, this season we continue in a lighthearted vein with Mozart’s masterpiece “Cosí Fan Tutte,” alternatively called “The School for Lovers,” with two performances on February 10 and 11, Friday and Saturday, both at 5pm, at the Teatro Angela Peralta. The score is filled with a cornucopia of wonderful arias, duets, and quartets, and the plot is hilariously complicated and encompasses a myriad of uproarious twists and turns.
Put simply, Ferrando and Guglielmo are engaged, respectively, to sisters Dorabella and Fiordiligi. The men’s cynical friend, Don Alfonso, sows seeds of doubt in their minds as to whether the ladies will be faithful to their fiancés. To test their fidelity, Don Alfonso persuades the men to tell the girls they are going off to war, and there is a tearful farewell. With the connivance of the girls’ maid, Despina, the men return pretending to be Albanians and woo the ladies in an attempt to get them to betray their fiancés. Outrageous comedy and confusion abound to delight us.
The two couples are young and beautiful and our casting reflects this. Ferrando will be sung by Edgar Villalba, an accomplished tenor who has appeared at the Cervantino Festival in Guanajuato, performed with the Querétaro Philharmonic, and has sung this role previously to great acclaim. Art imitates life and the identity confusion of the opera is reflected in another Edgar—Edgar Gil, singing the part of Guglielmo. Gil is a Mozart specialist, an alumni of the famous Perfectionism in Opera program, and has performed in many of Mexico’s leading opera houses.
Fiordiligi will be sung by Akemi Endo, another established Mozartian, whose credits include the roles of Giannetta in Donizetti’s “L’Elisir d’Amore,” Sandrina in Mozart’s “La Finta Giardiniera,” and the Queen of the Night in his “Magic Flute.”
Dorabella will be performed by Jacinta Barbachano, a soprano well known to San Miguel audiences for her stunning singing at the Metropolitan Opera and Opera San Miguel competitions. She made her solo debut at the Bellas Artes, in Mexico City, in the role of Cherubino in “The Marriage of Figaro” in 2018.
Complementing these four main protagonists will be one of Mexico’s great bass/baritones, Jesus Suaste, as the cynical Don Alfonso. Many of you will remember him as an outstanding Dr. Malatesta in our production of “Don Pasquale” last year.
Completing the cast is Diana Rojas as the girls’ maid, Despina. Rojas has a wide and varied career that includes playing Fauno in Mozart’s little known, but delightful, opera “Ascanio in Alba,” which she also sang at the Cervantino Festival. Rodrigo Garciarroyo once more directs, and Maestro Rodrigo Macias will be on the podium again with his outstanding orchestra.
Tickets for the opera are now on sale and for the first time you can now choose your specific seat by booking through our website. The best seats always sell out quickly, so I recommend booking as soon as you can by going to our website, www.promusicasma.org.
