Così fan tutte — a concert staging to rival the big opera houses

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★★★★★Very unusually for them, almost all of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra’s work in the Edinburgh International Festival this year is in the world of opera. They served as the theatre orchestra for the Opéra Comique’s Carmen, and were unleashed from the pit to take centre stage for the Usher Hall’s concert staging of Così fan tutte.
Based on their work over the past seven days, the SCO would give any full-time opera company a run for their money, so vibrantly expressive has their playing been. This Così positively zinged right from the whipcrack overture, with lithe strings, chuckling winds and period brass and timpani that gave the score real bite. But every effect was used to serve Mozart’s drama, and in that the orchestra had a not-so-secret weapon in their principal conductor, Maxim Emelyanychev.
He was the dynamo that energised this whole, sparkling performance, not only shaping the ensembles with dramatic flair but crafting the recitatives from the fortepiano in a way that made them sound as if they had only just been written. Endless peppery twists from the continuo brought insights and psychological depth. Who would have thought, for example, that a simple bass drone under the men’s protestations of love in the opening scene could make them sound so preposterous?
The team of soloists, all singing from memory, were brilliant both individually and as a group. The easy opulence of Golda Schultz’s creamy soprano made Fiordiligi sound simultaneously aristocratic and deeply human. Angela Brower’s Dorabella was more spicy and worldly, while Hera Hyesang Park had a slightly frosty edge to her voice that set Despina apart from her mistresses. Josh Lovell brought a lovely, soft tenor tone to Ferrando, while Huw Montague Rendall sang Guglielmo with warmth but also a touch of grit. Christopher Maltman was young for Don Alfonso, but that meant he could bring a mischievous energy to the part.
There was no credited director, but the entrances, exits and gestures meant that this was a proper piece of theatre, often very funny. Who needs a set when the drama explodes out of the score with such vigour?
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