Salzburg "Così fan tutte": Loy stages Mozart's opera buffa in maximal reduction

Christof Loy dispenses with illustrative effects and lets the figures act in calm, clearly directed scenes. The directorial concept relies on posture, facial expression, and timing rather than on lavish staging.

Johannes Leiacker is responsible for the sparse, elegant set and costume design, which directs the focus toward the human voices. The white wall remains static for a long time and becomes a symbol for the artificiality of the game being played.

Refined Humor in the White Space

Within this setting, the buffa mechanics unfold with dry wit. Delightful, for instance, is the joke when Guglielmo and Ferrando ask how they are now supposed to punish their fiancées and Don Alfonso answers: "Ich weiß wie: Sie heiraten!". It is also refined humor when, in the second act, the previously static white wall does open after all and a giant tree appears — whereas in the libretto there is only passing mention of "die hübschen kleinen Bäume".

The sopranos and baritones master the vocal demands of the score and carry the ensembles with a homogeneous sound. Particularly in the finales, the cast succeeds in making the comedic finesse of the music audible.

The production joins Loy's recurring engagement with the Mozart opera, which he has already developed at other houses. In Salzburg, he sharpens his concept once more with full consistency.

Reception and Context

The premiere audience in the Großes Festspielhaus responded with warm applause, which was directed above all at the interplay of direction, design, and musical leadership.

Critics highlighted the stringency of the concept. The fact that one of the most frequently performed Mozart operas manages without opulent staging is seen by many as confirmation of the work's durability.

All in all, this is a "Così fan tutte" that draws its effect from reduction and precision. Anyone wishing to experience Mozart's final collaboration with Da Ponte in purist form currently finds a corresponding interpretation in Salzburg.

For the Festival, the production is a further building block in this year's program, which reinterrogates historical works. The decision to reduce such a well-known opera to its essentials is here a deliberate one.