Part of the two casts of ‘Così fan tutte’, with maestros Óliver Díaz and Pedro Bartolomé (Opera Berri), stage director Marta Eguilior and Cesidio Niño, artistic director of the ABAO. /
‘Così fan tutte’ is presented on Saturday in the Euskalduna with an ABAO own production that will stage the Bilbain Marta Eguilior. The cast features Vanessa Goikoetxea and Xabier Anduaga, arranged by Euskadiko Orchestra under the direction of Óliver Díaz
The opera ‘Così fan tutte’ (That’s how they all do) is offered this Saturday at the Euskalduna, with the Euskadiko Orkestra in the pit under the direction of Óliver Díaz. This is the third title of the ABAO and comes to the rhythm of Mozart, with music direct and sharp as a dart. It is the last title in the trilogy that bears the Mozart-Da Ponte stamp and is priceless. There is ingenuity, bad intentions and an ending that would delight Valmont, the cynic of ‘Dangerous Liaisons’. Everything revolves around a game of disguises and deceit with which two boys (Ferrando and Guglielmo) test the fidelity of their girlfriends (Fiordiligi and Dorabella). The instigator is Don Alfonso, a guy who has a special interest in embittering the lives of his young friends.
The production is an ABAO own production, with stage direction and set design by Marta Eguilior from Bilbao. This is her debut in the Biscayan capital with a repertoire title. Until now she had only had the opportunity to present her work at the Arriaga (‘La voz humana’ and ‘As One’) and at the Sala BBK (‘Borderland’). «It is the longest opera I have directed so far –it has two acts of one hour and 25 minutes each– and I feel proud to do it in my city. I’m excited. I did not know how the singers were going to respond on stage and they have left me speechless…”, Marta Eguilior confessed yesterday at a press conference, together with part of the protagonists of the five functions that will be offered until Monday the 30th (including the Opera Berri, 28, cheaper and with an alternative cast).
The Oviedo scandal
Among the singers in the first cast stands out the soprano Vanessa Goikoetxea, who left very good memories last year at the ABAO as Vitellia in ‘La Clemenza di Tito’, also by Mozart. On this occasion, she plays the role of Fiordiligi, which is also of great vocal difficulty and dramatic substance. Neither the interpreter from Durango nor the mezzo Serena Malfi (Dorabella), who also has a leading role but with less specific weight, were present at the press conference “for personal reasons”, clarified Cesidio Niño, artistic director of the lyrical entity.
It so happens that Vanessa Goikoetxea was already placed under Eguilior’s orders in the production of ‘Don Giovanni’ premiered in Oviedo a couple of months ago, which earned the stage director some harsh criticism, as well as booing at the Theater Campoamor. That production was tremendous, with a degree of sordidness that has nothing to do with what will be offered in Bilbao. «For ‘Così fan tutte’ I have transferred the setting from the 18th century to the Belle Époque, with two bourgeois girls and their respective partners. There is also a lot of magic and fantasy, ”says Eguilior. Betitxe Saitua’s wardrobe is very careful, as is the lighting, which puts the focus alternately “on an animated forest and a chessboard”.
In the first cast, the tenor Xabier Anduaga (Ferrando) and the baritone David Menéndez (Guglielmo) also stand out. The other two characters (Don Alfonso and Despina), who are the ones who move the threads of the plot, will have the physiognomy and voice of the baritone Pietro Spagnolo and the soprano Itziar de Unda. «What can I say about this work? Well, it’s a gift to direct it. I consider it the most sublime of all Mozart’s operas”, emphasizes the Asturian conductor Óliver Díaz, after having thoroughly studied the more than 465 pages of the score. Good music is not lacking in ‘Così fan tutte’.