‘an excellent production, full of good humour. . . which landed well with an appreciative audience’
English National Opera played the game well with their English libretto interpretation of Mozart’s famous two-act comic opera where mischief and misunderstanding abound much to our delight.
The story begins at the Skyline Motel with an old cynic and philosopher, Don Alfonso (Andrew Foster-Williams), befriending two young soldiers, Ferrando (Joshua Blue) and Guglielmo (Darwin Prakash), and betting that their respective fiancées, sisters Dorabella (Taylor Raven) and Fiordiligi (Lucy Crowe) will not stay faithful if put to the test. The two young men accept the bet and pretend to depart for the front line whilst secretly returning in disguise and under the direction of Don Alfonso, ably assisted by a motel maid, Despina (Ailish Tynan), they attempt to woo each other’s other half. Cosi fan tutte – ‘all women are like that’ – is the challenge set down. The question is though: are they?
Whilst Mozart had imagined a coffee house, lounge, garden, and bedroom, Ruth Knight’s direction brought us into a more recognisable modern era and was all the more effective for it. The concert staging by its very nature was simple yet demonstrated how much can be achieved with a little when you put your mind to it. There was great use of the available space, including on occasion the chorus stalls above the orchestra, with the accompanying seamless set changes so discretely delivered by the stage management team that performances remained to the fore throughout.
As well as an array of fantastic props, Laura Sprake’s lighting design supported the effortless transformation between locations, augmented by Laura Hopkins wonderful array of bright, colourful costumes paraded across an imagined 1950’s period boardwalk, and which provided the necessary differentiation between comic disguises.
The Orchestra of English National Opera conducted by Alexander Joel was bright and airy from the off and remained lively throughout, sweeping the audience along, with the added interventions from the Chorus of English National Opera adding a further and very enjoyable depth to proceedings.
The mismatched sisters and soldiers were performed well with Crowe, Raven, Blue, and Prakash all providing strong vocals and moving solos as well as capturing the underlying comedy of the piece with some great acting, although the icing on the cake came from their natural chemistry which generated just the right amount of sexual frisson without going overboard as they moved between mood and emotion.
The standouts however were Foster-Williams and Tynan who conspired entertainingly throughout, with Foster-Williams’ Don Alfonso a much more likeable character than the obvious and intended cynicism that is usually portrayed, adding a different dynamic to the piece as he mastered all that was around him, including the audience. Tynan equally took Despina, an oft overlooked role, up a notch with a strong comic acting performance and an impressive vocal range that was a joy to watch and hear.
This was an excellent production, full of good humour and very much played for laughs with strong acting in addition to fine vocal and strong musical accompaniment, all of which landed well with an appreciative audience, as the English National Opera’s Manchester connections are strengthened.
The Bridgewater Hall is Manchester’s international concert venue, built to give the best possible space for music. Further details https://www.bridgewater-hall.co.uk/
English National Opera is the national opera company dedicated to creating extraordinary encounters with opera, on stage and beyond and they certainly delivered on that tonight. Further information https://www.eno.org/
Date: 27th February 2026
Star Rating: FIVE