AVA's "Cosi fan tutte'

Mozart's most challenging role
(and a great interpretation of it)

STEVE COHEN

I owe an apology to Angela Meade. When she sang in Der Freischutz at the Academy of Vocal Arts in February, I praised and criticized her (not in Broad Street Review), saying she had "floating, limpid tones but she didn’t add the spunk or vivacity that would make this part more interesting."

Singing Fiordiligi in the new AVA production of Cosi fan tutte, Meade exhibits plenty of spunk. When she fires off the "tempesta" section of the difficult aria "Come scoglio," the sound she produces really is tempestuous. Especially exciting is the way she drops seamlessly into a lower register with deep, chesty, dramatic tones.

Her secure high notes are now connected to a rich low voice with no break between the two. Meade easily transverses the elaborate coloratura of her part. More than that, she molds those rapid flights of notes to make dramatic points. This is not just a display of versatility. Hers is a great interpretation of Mozart’s most challenging role.

Although she is still an AVA undergrad, Meade is already listed on the Metropolitan Opera’s roster, covering the lead soprano role in Verdi’s Ernani but with no performances scheduled. Let’s hope the star gets sick. If that happens, will someone please call me so I can run up to New York to see and hear it? I saw that production with Angela Gheorghiu; Meade is better.

Not your usual first-year student

Meade is not the only attraction in this Cosi fan tutte. The entire cast is excellent and the orchestra spectacular. Taylor Staton as the leading tenor, in particular, projects a warm smooth sound and sings with musicianship— the sort of accomplished performance I didn’t expect from a first-year student. Christofer Macatsoris conducts with even more bounce and humor than in past years. Because of his careful rehearsing, the musicians play with the skill of a fine chamber ensemble.

The dramatic interpretation is interesting. You know the plot: An older man tells two soldiers that their fiancées, who happen to be sisters, won’t be faithful to them. The soldiers accept a bet and put on disguises, woo each other’s fiancées and seduce them. The idea is cute but implausible: How could the girls not know their own lovers?

Can this story make sense?

Here, director Damon Nestor Ploumis and the cast have decided that the two sisters are immature, no more than 14 years old. The guys are mercenary soldiers who travel the Mediterranean and the girls are rich, pampered kids who impetuously fall in puppy love during a vacation. They’ve only known their "fiancées" for a few days. In this interpretation it is understandable that their men can fool them and it’s easy to accept the girls falling for new boyfriends. At the end, they make up with their original lovers and display the first signs of maturity— at age 15.

The cast is suitably young and attractive. Meade’s only deficiency is that she’s not as slim as the others, but one stops noticing that when she opens her mouth.

Cosi fan tutte is loveable because of its combination of some of Mozart’s most tender and most bubbly music. Now it even makes sense.



To read responses, click here.