Cosi Fan Tutti: ENO
this staging softens some of the original's nastier implications without entirely sanitizing them. What emerges is opera as guilty pleasure: brilliant, frivolous, and self-aware enough to get away with it.
Candyfloss and Cynicism: ENO's Cosi Spins Mozart Through a Funhouse Mirror
From the moment the overture begins and circus performers cavort before the curtain, this production announces its intention to seduce rather than lecture. Tom Pye's vision transforms the action into a traveling fairground somewhere between dream and delirium—a Coney Island where desire operates like a rigged game and everyone's a mark. The ENO commissioned authentic carnival signage from renowned artist Joby Carter, and the result dazzles: spinning chambers, swan-shaped gondolas, a towering Ferris wheel, and bunny-staffed bars all conspire to create an atmosphere where moral boundaries blur as pleasurably as the neon lights.
Under the baton of Dinis Sousa, the ENO orchestra delivered Mozart's score with both crispness and knowing wit, understanding that this opera thrives when it doesn't take itself too seriously. The choreography pulses with physical comedy and sly visual gags, keeping the narrative momentum aligned with the music's restless energy. Yet here lies the production's deliberate gamble: by coating everything in sugar and spectacle, it risks obscuring the opera's darker machinery—the casual cruelty and sexual manipulation that hum beneath the carnival music. Some productions lean into that toxicity; Phelim McDermott's 2014 staging (revived here) instead chooses sass over severity, addressing the work's outdated gender politics through humour rather than confrontation.
Andrew Foster-Williams commands the stage as Don Alfonso, a carnival barker with the smooth menace of someone who's seen every con and believes in none of them. His substantial bass-baritone anchors the deception with both charm and calculation. Irish soprano Ailish Tynan's Despina emerges as the evening's revelation—singing in an Irish-American accent, she brings impeccable comic timing alongside vocal perfection I was thrilled by her.
Lucy Crowe's Fiordiligi captivated throughout with her astonishing range, giving tinging feelings to her ravishing drops, while mezzo-soprano Taylor Raven's Dorabella proved genuinely thrilling. Raven inhabits Mozart's music with instinctive fluidity, and her chemistry with Crowe produced duets of sumptuous vocal richness. Indian baritone Darwin Prakash brought both speed and seductive conviction to Guglielmo, while Joshua Blue's lyric tenor filled the Coliseum as Ferrando with ease. Diction was on point this evening, allowing the delicious rhymes and humour to settle each and every time.
The dozen acrobats, fire-eaters, and sword-swallowers could overwhelm, yet McDermott ensures the focus remains on the central betrayals. In one pointed moment, when Guglielmo launches into his misogynistic tirade about women's faithlessness, a growing cluster of female circus workers watches from behind the hamburger stand, methodically wiping beer glasses with expressions of profound boredom. It's a subtle but effective commentary—the cynicism cuts both ways. Jeremy Sams's translation keeps the wit sharp and accessible, the harpsichord commentary darting underneath like a knowing wink.
This interpretation ultimately asks us to suspend our contemporary discomfort and simply float on Mozart's intoxicating surfaces—to accept that sometimes the best response to problematic art is to dress it in spangles and acknowledge its absurdity. By distributing blame more evenly in the finale, this staging softens some of the original's nastier implications without entirely sanitizing them. What emerges is opera as guilty pleasure: brilliant, frivolous, and self-aware enough to get away with it.
The production understands that Cosi has always been about indulgence and its aftermath, about how easily we perform the selves others want to see. In a fairground setting where everything's already performance and illusion, that theme lands with particular resonance. Is it profound? Not especially. But with singing this accomplished and a visual feast this inventive, profundity feels beside the point. Sometimes you just want the candyfloss—even knowing it dissolves the moment it touches your tongue.
Until 21st February
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