Cosi Fan Tutte (2017)

Following the success of our new Merton street opera Drifting Dragons in 2016, we announced our summer 2017 street opera production of Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutte. It’s a story about love and friendship, cheating, and testing the one you love. Both funny and moving, audiences loved following our characters’ rather complicated love lives taking place on the streets of Merton!

Our performances were completely FREE and unticketed in a variety of places in Merton – popping up in cafes, pubs, supermarkets, libraries and even at the bus stop! The audience followed our story while hearing the beautiful music as people went about their normal life.

We re-imagined the 3 hour opera sung in Italian with full orchestra for the Merton high streets – it’s was edited to about an hour, the music re-arranged for 3 instruments suitable for promenade performance (violin, accordion and bassoon) by exciting young composer/conductor Leo Geyer, and with a new modern English libretto written by director Joanna Turner. As it was free and unticketed the audience could stay to watch the whole story or just a bit.

We partnered again with Merton Music Foundation to offer local schools complimentary workshops teaching young people about opera, and with organisations such as the New Horizon Centre and Merton & Morden Guild to engage local elderly people with this fantastic story of love, confusion and betrayal.

Reviews

[Don Alfonso’s] challenge, and their resulting bet, comes about so naturally in this context that I began to wonder why every Cosi doesn’t start in a pub beer garden.- , Operissima

Mitcham has probably witnessed these human scenes many times before; the only change is that, this time, Mozart is involved, and everybody sings.- , Operissima

What amazed me about the Baseless Fabric experience is how naturally this production fits into its locations, a testament to the scrupulous research work which must have gone on beforehand, as well as the quality of everyone’s performances.- , Operissima

Sung in a beautifully natural, contemporary English libretto by Joanna Turner- , Operissima

Leo Geyer and Joanna Turner have done a wonderful job in creating a modern libretto and production suitable for this High Street Format Opera- , LondonTheatre1.com

This production is tremendous fun- , LondonTheatre1.com

Creative Team

Leo Geyer – Arranger/MD
Joanna Turner – Director & Librettist
Cecilija Berg – Costume Assistant

Singers

Claire Wild – Fiordiligi
Felicity Buckland – Dorabella
Simon Gfeller – Ferrando
Tom Stoddart – Guglielmo
Philip Smith – Don Alfonso

Instrumentalists

Leo Geyer – Bassoon
Olivia Jarvis – Violin
Bartosz Glowacki – Accordion

Blog Posts on Cosi Fan Tutte

• Cosi in the Sunshine!
• Cosi Fan Tutte Collaboration with Opera Holland Park!
• It's our 5th Birthday!
• Why Audiences Love Street Opera
• Cosi Fan Tutte Pop-Up Performance!
• Team Cosi Fan Tutte at the Offies Awards Ceremony!
• 2017 A year in review
• Transforming sleek city bankers to grungey surfers...
• 5 Star Review & OffWestEnd Award Nomination
• Chatting to Wandsworth Radio about Street Opera
• Cosi Fan Tutte performances in full swing!
• Excited about singing in the supermarket? We ask our Cosi cast....
• Extra Cosi Fan Tutte date added!! Wimbledon Piazza Sunday 6th August
• Do you think opera is for you?
• Cosi Fan Tutte Street Opera Performance Dates
• Help us take opera to the high street!
• Cosi Fan Tutte Cast Announced
• Probably not one for the opera purists!
• Which Cosi character would you most like to go on a date with?
• "I'd date Guglielmo if he was filled with marshmallows..."

Performance Dates

DATES: 27th July – 6th August 2017
PRICE: FREE
STARTING LOCATIONS:
There were nine performance locations across the Merton borough.

Our Supporters for this production

The production is kindly supported by the Arts Council, Merton Council, Wimbledon Foundation, Lucille Graham Trust, The Humphrey Richardson Taylor Charitable Trust, The Golsoncott Foundation, The London Community Foundation, Cockayne and individual donors.