THE CONSUMMATE OPERA: MOZART’S COSÌ FAN TUTTE

BY KEVIN J. LIN

Così fan tutte marks the final collaboration between W. A. Mozart and Lorenzo

da Ponte, often overshadowed by the popularity and ubiquity of its predecessors Le nozze

di Figaro and Don Giovanni. Despite this general lack of public acclaim throughout its

history, a deeper examination into its background and music reveals an opera of

craftsmanship and beauty no less deserving than the other two parts of the “amorous”

trilogy. A look into the last years of Mozart life exhibit his mastery in writing opera

buffa, with his technique and style culminating into that of Così fan tutte. The origin and

conception of Così fan tutte lead into a look at Mozart’s approach in setting the text to

music, taking as example of such musical-dramatic synthesis, the Act I finale.

Traditionally less accessible than Le nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni (but no less

rewarding), Così fan tutte is a virtuosic display of ensemble writing that reveals Mozart’s

wit and brilliance in his last opera buffa where the profound and the absurd intertwine

like the opera’s lovers themselves.

Mozart’s Last Years

The premiere of Così fan tutte dates to 26 January 1790; in less than two years

Mozart will not live to see the completion of his Requiem Mass in D minor, and

undoubtedly – to the world’s loss – much more. At 36 years of age Mozart had

accomplished more than what most mortals would in several lifetimes. Yet he was just

reaching the heights of his compositional powers just before his untimely death. A look

into his last years reveals works that have become cornerstones in the piano, chamber,

symphonic, operatic, and choral repertories:

1
 Symphony No. 41 in C, “Jupiter”, K. 551 August, 17881
Clarinet Quintet in A, K. 581 September 1789
Piano Concerto no. 27 in B-flat, K. 595 January 1791
Ave verum corpus, K. 618 June 1791
Die Zauberflöte, K. 620 September 1791
Requiem in D-minor, K. 625 Unfinished

In the two (and final) operas written after Così fan tutte, Mozart returned to

genres that he had earlier triumphed before his work in opera buffa with Da Ponte: opera

seria (Idomeneo, re di Creta, 1781) and Singspiel (Die Entführung aus dem Serail, 1782).

Mozart’s last opera seria commission resulted in La Clemenza di Tito. Mozart received

the commission from the impresario of the Prague National Theatre in July 1791 (for the

occasion of the coronation of Leopold II as king of Bohemia on 6 September of that

year). Like many of the pieces written during Mozart’s last year, La Clemenza di Tito

was produced at a breakneck pace – eighteen days. Despite its rushed composition,

Mozart’s expertise and originality in ensemble writing from his previous work with Da

Ponte is prevalent throughout the opera2.

His final opera – Die Zauberflöte – premeiered in September 1791, though the

bulk of its composition was finished before La Clemenza di Tito. The commission was

from Emanuel Schikaneder (the librettist and first Papageno) for his theatrical troupe.

The opera was a cornucopia of musical theatre with elements of buffa and seria, popular

appeal in streetsongs and hymms, prominent spoken text, and virtuosic coloratura vocal

writing. The opera is also considered enigmatic due to its allegorical references to

Freemasonry (of which Mozart was a member) whose meanings are continued to be

1
Completion dates.
2
As one of the arguments given by William Mann for the case that the opera is indeed worthy of Mozart in
spite of its shortcomings, e.g. weak drama and simple orchestration (Willam Mann, The Operas of Mozart,
Oxford University Press, 1977: 588-589).

2
debated3. Musically idiosyncratic as well, its “oddities of rhythm and harmony and [sic]

texture and instrumentation” 4 suggest that Die Zauberflöte is the most experimental of

Mozart’s operas.

It was four years before Così fan tutte when Mozart had first approached Da

Ponte – Court Poet and Librettist to the Imperial Theatre – in Vienna for collaboration:

the setting of Beaumarchais’ controversial Figaro5. At the time Mozart was becoming a

rising musical presence at the court of Joseph II, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.

Yet a permanent position in the court eluded him. Mozart’s apparent lack of political

acumen made him vulnerable to the scheming of such court officials as Count von

Rosenberg6 and Antonio Salieri7. However Da Ponte’s reputed influence on Joseph II

eventually won over the case in producing and staging Le nozze di Figaro despite the

banned status of Beaumarchais’ play – and thus began the fruitful relationship resulting

in their celebrated triptych.

Despite the acclamation of Le nozze di Figaro in Vienna – as exemplified by the

emperor’s ban on excessive encores following a particularly receptive performance – the

opera garnered only eight performances after its premiere on 1 May 1786. It was however

the wildly successful productions the following year in Prague that led to the commission

3
See “La Clemenza di Sarastro: Masonic Beneficence in the Last Operas” in Daniel Heartz’s, Mozart’s
Operas, University of California Press, 1990: 255-275.
4
William Mann, The Operas of Mozart: 640.
5
La folle journée, ou Le marriage de Figaro by Pierre-Augustin Beaumarchais, first staged in 1784, Paris.
6
Grand Chamberlain of the Court and Director of the Imperial Theatres; Da Pointe recorded in his
Memoirs an intriguing attempt by Rosenberg to remove music from the Act III ballet to Le nozze di Figaro
(Lorenzo Da Ponte, Memoirs, New York Review of Books, 2000: 138-140).
7
Despite the historical inaccuracies of Salieri’s role in Mozart’s death as vividly portrayed in Peter
Shaffer’s play Amadeus (as well as the Milos Forman film), court composer Salieri however was not
innocent in obstructing the musical career of Mozart in Vienna; Mozart himself pointed out an instance of
such intrigue in a letter dated 29 December 1789 inviting fellow Freemason Michael Puchberg (and
frequent monetary lender) to a rehearsal of Così fan tutte in the presence of Joseph Haydn: “I shall tell you
when we meet about Salieri’s plots, which, however, have completely failed already.” (Andrew Steptoe,
The Mozart Da-Ponte Operas, Oxford University Press, 1988: 5-6.)

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for a second Mozart-Da Ponte opera: Don Giovanni. Mozart’s estranged father Leopold,

died the spring before the premiere of Don Giovanni, foreshadowing the difficult year

following Mozart’s return from Prague. As a recurring theme throughout his life,

financial difficulty8 was especially crippling – with few commissions and pupils alike –

as well as the ailing health of his wife Constanze.

In April 1789 Mozart traveled to Berlin to explore career possibilities, stopping

along the way at Prague and Leipzig. At Leipzig Mozart played the organ at Bach’s St.

Thomas church in the presence of a pupil of Johann Sebastian Bach, who “was delighted

and thought that his old master had been resurrected”.9 In Potsdam King Friedrich

Wilhelm II granted an audience to Mozart, commissioning six string quartets (the king

was a cellist) and six piano sonatas for Princess Friedericke (he only completed three of

the quartets and one of the sonatas). The king reportedly offered a post as Kapellmeister

to Mozart however it was turned down out of loyalty to Joseph II10. Nevertheless Mozart

entertained the idea of relocating among Prague, Berlin, and London, however by the

beginning of June Mozart returned to Vienna with no intentions of leaving his beloved

city.11

Toward a School for Lovers

Le nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni are both critically and popularly acclaimed

staples of opera houses throughout the world since their respective premieres, their

musical brilliance universally agreed upon. In particular it is the perfection of Mozart’s

8
A detailed account of the financial life of Mozart is prominently integrated throughout Maynard
Solomon’s study: Mozart, a Life (HarperCollins, 1995).
9
Charles Osborne, The Complete Operas of Mozart, Da Capo Press, 1978: 280.
10
Mann briefly discusses the possible career opportunities for Mozart on this trip. (Willam Mann, The
Operas of Mozart: 521)
11
Interestingly Mann entertained the idea that “If he had moved, with his family, to Prague, Berlin, or
London he could well have lived to a ripe age.” (Ibid.) – To the world’s gain, undoubtedly.

4
ensemble writing that sets him apart from his contemporaries, a necessity perhaps from

the numerous characters and dramatic content in Da Ponte’s librettos. Furthermore it is

the ensemble where the synthesis of the music and text is most pronounced. It is in this

respect where Così fan tutte upon examination can be regarded as the paragon of the

ensemble opera, being a worthy offspring of Le nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni (two

other expositions on love). In fact it is due to the success of a revival of Le nozze di

Figaro ordered by the Emporer in July 1789 that prompted the royal commission that

conceived Così fan tutte. However the commission itself is not well-documented,

prompting much speculation, one of which (debunked by Bruce Alan Brown12) proposes

that Joseph II expressively commissioned the libretto to be based on sensational gossip of

a real incident in Vienna at the time involving two officers and their lovers. Nevertheless

two officers and their lovers are the central characters to Da Ponte’s libretto, La Scuola

degli Amanti13.

Synopsis

La Scuola degli Amanti is set in two-acts consisting of six characters: Fiordiligi

Dorabella, Despina, Ferrando, Guglielmo, and Don Alfonso. Ferrando and Guglielmo are

two officers betrothed respectively to the sisters Dorabella and Fiordiligi. Don Alfonso is

a friend of the officers, who after hearing the men boast of the virtues of their fiancées,

proposes a wager to test the fidelities of the women since he believes that all women are

suspect. The wager involves a charade where the officers pretend to be called away to the

battlefield but in actuality disguise themselves as exotic Albanians and attempt to seduce

12
B.A. Brown, W.A. Mozart: ‘Cosí fan tutte’, Cambridge University Press, 1995: 9-10.
13
The original title, before becoming: Così fan tutte, ossia La Scuola degli Amanti [Thus Do All women, or
the School for Lovers].

5
each other’s fiancées. Don Alfonso enlists the help of the sisters’ maid Despina in the

courting of the Albanians though he does not reveal their identities. After numerous

attempts, the “Albanians” (to their dismay) succeed, and following a mock-wedding

finally reveal their true identities to the shock of all three women. Saddened but wiser,

the lovers look forward to reconciliation.

The Libretto

It is interesting to note that Così fan tutte is only one of Da Ponte’s two librettos

that he did not directly adapt from a play; the other is L’arbore di Diana for Vicente

Martín y Soler. Having not developed much original material in his career, Da Ponte

resorted to his strengths in literary references and textual quotations. The essentials of the

plot are not new: using disguise to test a woman’s fidelity goes back to the myth of

Cephalus and Procris in the seventh book of Ovid’s Metemorphoses, with Boccaccio (De

claris mulieribus) and Ariosto (Orlando furioso) each providing their own versions. The

wager theme has also been used in Boccaccio’s Decameron and in Shakespeare’s

Cymbeline14.

In Da Ponte’s version of the wager/disguise/test story, the relationships among the

six characters are devised with strong symmetry and duality in mind. The opera can be

seen in the context of the Age of Reason as an experiment15 where the two pairs of

14
Extensive details on other significant sources of Da Ponte’s libretto – including Metastasio and
Beaumarchais – is discussed in: Bruce Alan Brown, “Beaumarchais, Paisiello, and the Genesis of Cosí fan
tutte”, in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Essays on His Life and Music, ed. Stanley Sadie, Oxford University
Press, 1996; B.A. Brown: “The Sources of An ‘Original Libretto”, in W.A. Mozart: ‘Cosí fan tutte’: 57-81;
and Daniel Heartz, “Citation, Reference, and Recall in Così fan tutte”, Mozart’s Operas: 229-253.
15
It is with respect to the ideals of the Enlightenment such as that of “man studied with the exactitude of a
machine” where Così fan tutte is suggested as closer to Die Zauberflöte than the other Da Ponte operas, i.e.
the achievement of wisdom through a test (Nicholas Till, Mozart and the Enlightenment, London: 229-257.
Scott Burnham argues however that Così fan tutte is in fact a “powerful critique of Enlightenment notions
of reason and human nature” where “the juxtaposition of libretto and music ultimately implies no less a

6
subjects in the two sisters and two officers start off paired with their fiancés, later

swapped to each others’ lovers, and then return to the original pairing; the two observers

of the experiment in Don Alfonso and Despina maintain relationships with the men and

women respectively that mirrors each others’16.

Figure 1: Outline of Così fan tutte

Source: Steptoe, The Mozart – Da Ponte Operas: 133

The libretto started out in existential limbo: six characters in search of a

composer. Salieri was approached and he even set the first two numbers of the opera to

theme than the birth of consciousness and the fall of Man.” (Scott Burnham, “Mozart’s felix culpa: Così fan
tutte and the Irony of Beauty”, Musical Quarterly, vol. 78, no. 1, Spring 1994: 77.)
16
Steptoe provides an insightful diagram of the relationships depicting such symmetries and dualities (see
Figure 1).

7
music17. Interviewed in 1829, Constanze Mozart recalled that “Salieri’s enmity arose

from Mozart’s setting the Così fan tutte which he had originally commenced and given

up as unworthy [of] musical invention.”18 Salieri may have deemed the text ill-suited to

write music for; Mozart proves otherwise.

The Music

Where Da Ponte borrowed from his vast literary background, Mozart borrowed

musically from his earlier works (as well as from other composers such as Paisiello19)

and arguably biographically as well: Mozart experienced a bit of “swapping lovers”,

having been involved with the sisters Aloysia and Constanze Weber, the later of course

became his wife.

With six characters divided evenly among men and women, Mozart set the voice-

types to the characters as follows:

Fiordiligi soprano
Dorabella soprano (mezzo-soprano)20
Despina soprano (mezzo-soprano)
Ferrando tenor
Guglielmo bass (baritone or bass-baritone)
Don Alfonso bass

In particular the role of Guglielmo was troublesome to Mozart. Francesco Benucci, the

first Figaro and the first Viennese Leporello, was also the first Guglielmo. Hailed as the

finest basso buffo of his time, Mozart was conflicted in showcasing Bennuci’s talents

17
Based upon a recent discovery in July 1994 by John Rice in the Music Collection of the Austrian
National Library; B.A. Brown, W.A. Mozart: ‘Cosí fan tutte’: 10, 184 n. 9.
18
Ibid: 10.
19
See B.A. Brown, “Beaumarchais, Paisiello, and the Genesis of Così fan tutte”, in Wolfgang Amadeus
Mozart: Essays on His Life and Music.
20
The voice-types in parenthesis correspond to casting practices after the 19th-century.

8
without infringing upon the opera’s aesthetic, hence Guglielmo’s short first act aria ‘Non

siate ritriosi’ (No. 15) replaced the long but impressive ‘Rivolgete a lui lo sguardo’21.

As an offspring, Così fan tutte in fact carries a musical gene from Le nozze di

Figaro. In the Act I trio (No. 14) of Figaro consisting of Susanna, Count Almaviva, and

Basilio, Mozart reuses the trill motif where Basilio sings ‘Così fan tutte le belle’ (see

Example 1a) prominently throughout Così’s overture (Ex. 1b). Stylistically the

prominence of the ensemble is derived from Figaro’s as well, in particular drawing from

Figaro’s Act II and IV finales as well as the Act III Sextet.

Example 1a: Le Nozze di Figaro, Act I, No. 14 (Trio), mm. 161-163

Ex. 1b: Così fan tutte, Overture, mm. 35-37

In the Act II finale of Così fan tutte for example Mozart crowned such perfection

with baroque counterpoint: a three-part canon22 in A-flat major is used in the Larghetto

section toasting to the (mock) wedding ‘E nel tuo, nel mio bicchiero’ (mm. 173-204).

Fiordiligi, Dorabella, and Ferrando sing the three-part canon looking forward to the

future while Guglielmo, left out of the canon, grumbles that they should be drinking

poison instead. Charles Osborne suggests that Mozart relieved Guglielmo canon figure

21
Mozart later published the piece as a concert aria (K.584). Daniel Heartz goes into detail the justification
of the revision based upon both musical and literary grounds (Daniel Heartz, “When Mozart Revises: The
Case of Guglielmo in Cosí fan tutte”, in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Essays on His Life and Music, ed.
Stanley Sadie, Oxford University Press, 1996).
22
The challenge of incorporating such counterpoint appealed not only to Mozart; Beethoven modeled his
canon ‘Mir ist’s so wunderbar’ from Fidelio after Mozart’s Larghetto, and in his schwanengesang Verdi
ended his Falstaff with a fugue ‘Tutto nel mondo è burla’ [‘Everything in the world’s a jest’] – in the
profound and absurd spirit of Mozart.

9
due to the high tessitura that reaches A-flat23 (Ex. 2) – bearing in mind that the first

Guglielmo is Benucci, a primo basso buffo, but a basso nonetheless. William Mann on

the other hand explains Guglielmo’s exclusion due not to such musical limitations (of the

A-flat, “Mozart could have fudged that if he had wanted” 24) but rather to psychological

and dramatic ones. Charles Rosen draws upon eighteenth-century comedy and

psychology to strengthen this idea25.

Ex. 2: Così fan tutte, Act II, No. 31 (Finale), Larghetto

In Mozart’s music, complex and even contradictory emotions are achieved, via

the classical style:

“The emotional complexity of the classical language is what makes the operas of Mozart
possible. Even irony was possible in music now, as E.T.A. Hoffman remarked of Così
fan tutte.”26

It will be in the context of such musical-dramatic synthesis where a prime example of the

ensembles of Così fan tutte will be examined: the Act I Finale.

The Act I Finale

The finale to the first act (No. 18) is comprised of seven subsections of three

scenes (Scenes 14, 15, and 16). In many ways it is a self-contained unit within the opera

as a whole: the drama introduces and resolves its very own plot device, and the music

23
Charles Osborne, The Complete Operas of Mozart: 292.
24
William Mann, The Operas of Mozart: 560.
25
Charles Rosen, The Classical Style, W.W. Norton, 1997: 315.
26
Ibid: 80.

10
reflects the action forming a closed tonal plan (the piece begins and ends in D major),

creating a structure27 that maintains continuity.

Fig. 2: Structure to Finale I

bars characters key meter tempo text incipit poetic A/E

meter
1 Fi, Do D 2/4 Andante Ah che tutto in 8 E
un momento
62 + Fe, G, A g  Allegro Si mora, sì, si mora 7 A
112 Ah che del sole il raggio E
138 (+ D) E Giacchè a morir vicini 7 A
198 – D, A Dei che cimento è questo E
218 c Ah! / Sospiran gl’infelici 8 A
267 Più domestiche e trattabili E
292 + D, A G 3/4 Allegro Eccovi il medico 5 A
418 /// Attorno guardano E
429 B C Andante Dove son, che loco è questo 8 A/E
/// (mixed)
485 D  Allegro Dammi un bacio o mio tesoro 8 A/E
544 Un quadretto più giocondo (mixed)
Source: Brown, W.A. Mozart: Così fan tutte: 150

Despite the fact that Mozart’s finales tend to have a higher level of tonal

organization than that of his contemporaries, John Platoff debunks a certain view that the

perceived greatness in such music is in fact due not to the high-level of tonal coherence

but rather to the “extraordinary fitness of their musical gestures to the dramatic

moment”28.

With Scene 14 (“Ah, che tutta in un momento”) the finale begins: Fiordiligi and

Dorabella sing a duet lamenting their distress by the non-presence (and presence) of

Ferrando and Guglielmo (and their Albanian guises). The key of D major is set, the duet

itself marked in 2/4, andante. In addition to being a trumpet-key (in preparation for the

27
See Figure 2 for the Act I finale structure in a concise table format.
28
The particular piece of music in question is the Act II finale from Le nozze di Figaro, a work similar in
length to the Act I finale from Così fan tutte. Both pieces are distinguished examples of the ‘buffo’ finale,
with the finale from Figaro drawing special attention to itself due to its unique tonal structure (John Platoff,
“Tonal Organization in ‘Buffo’ Finales and the Act II Finale of Le nozze di Figaro”, Music and Letters,
vol. 72 no. 3 (Aug. 1991): 387-403).

11
rousing conclusion to the act), Brown29 suggests that D major was also chosen with

respect to the global tonal organization: C – D – C (overture – finale I – finale II);

corresponding to that of the neighbor-note relationship of the Così-trill prevalent

throughout the overture (Ex. 1b).

As a function of differentiating sections while maintaining continuity, the wind

section changes throughout the piece to provide contrasting textures between the

movements, beginning first with the flute, bassoon, and French horn. The women sing to

evoke pity, the music consisting of long sweeping phrases yet they are mocked by the

Così-trill motif from the flutes supported by the horns, foreshadowing the cuckolding of

their lovers (Ex. 3). Mozart’s sense of parody can be inferred from this figure to suggest

that such “cuckolding” goes hand-in-hand with the thesis of the opera: “Così fan tutte”.

Ex. 3: Act I, No. 18 (Finale), mm. 56-58

The duet is in ABA form sung to two stanzas of verse, the first stanza repeated.

Andrew Steptoe argues that the three duets of Fiordiligi and Dorabella are examples of

how the sonata form provides a succinct structure for characterization and complex

29
B.A. Brown, W.A. Mozart: Così fan tutte, Cambridge, 1995: 100.

12
expression, drawing comparison to the Adagios of the Double Concerto, K. 365 and the

Sonata for Two pianos, K. 44830. The exposition evokes the thematic material of their

earlier trio with Don Alfonso in “Soave sia il vento” (No. 10). The sensual melodic

figures parallel each other in shape (Ex. 4) as well as the text in metaphorical reference,

however the emotional content diverges:

Ex. 4a: No. 10 (Trio: “Soave sia il vento”), mm. 2-6

Ex. 4b: No. 18 (Finale), mm. 18-22

From No. 10 Trio

Soave sia il vento Gentle be the breeze
Tranquilla sia l’onda calm be the waves

From No. 18 Duet

Ah, che un mar pien di tormento Ah what a sea of torment
È la vita omai per me! is life henceforth for me!

The private atmosphere of the D major duet is interrupted by the Albanian guises

of Ferrando and Guglielmo threatening suicide; the music makes a seamless transition to

this next scene (Scene 15: “Si mora sì, si mora”, mm. 62-138) to G minor in cut time,

allegro. This scene is comprised of three sections corresponding to three tonal regions: G

30
Andrew Steptoe, The Mozart – Da Ponte Operas, Oxford, 1988: 214-221.

13
minor – E-flat major – C minor. The dramatic plot device is introduced here as a comic

ruse attempting to direct the pity of Fiordiligi and Dorabella toward the Albanians;

Ferrando and Guglielmo incognito down arsenic, claiming that it will set them free from

the cruelty of the sisters.

Sergio Durante31 has emphasized the importance of the musical detail of the

“death figure” (mm. 33-39; Ex. 5a) in Fiordigli’s aria “Como scolgio” (No. 14) and that

of the identical figure where the Albanians drink the mock-poison (mm. 73-90; Ex. 5b):

in “Come scoglio” the figure is used no less than five times and in the latter case is used

in an abrupt modulation from G minor to B-flat major: the key of “Come scoglio”32. It is

the accompanying text to the “death figure” that reveals the beginning of the loss of

innocence for the two sisters and their respective lovers. In Fiordigli’s aria the text is as

follows: “e potrà la morte sola / far che cangi affetto il cor” [“And perhaps only death can

make the heart change its affections”]. Hence the attempted “suicide” on the part of

Guglielmo (and Ferrando) is in fact fulfilling the foreshadowing of Fiordiligi’s words.

In the orchestra the texture changes to accommodate the action: the horns of the

duet are replaced by the trumpets to accompany the outburst of the Albanians, and the

oboe is introduced. The music also reflects the heightened sense of the alarm of the

sisters in the arpeggiated triplets of the violins, an alarm at both the consequences and

motivations of the poisoning. Don Alfonso is accomplice to the mock-poisoning (as he is

masterminding the entire charade), and the section ends in a tutti passage of the quintet,

leading into the second section.

31
Sergio Durante, “Analysis and Dramaturgy: Reflections Towards a Theory of Opera”, in Opera Buffa in
Mozart’s Vienna, ed. Mary Hunter and James Webster, Cambridge, 1997: 316-318.
32
Mozart’s use of thematic reminiscences as a way of unifying the score and emphasizing ironic
connections is discussed by Steptoe (The Mozart – Da Ponte Operas: 213-215).

14
Ex. 5a: No. 14 (Aria: “Como scoglio”), mm. 33-39

Ex. 5b: No. 18 (Finale), mm. 73-80

15
 The second section of Scene 15 (“Giacchè a morir vicini”, mm. 138-198) begins

with Don Alfonso encouraging the sisters in their show of pity to the “near-death”

Albanians (as well as encouraging the success of his wager). Without changing the meter

and tempo, G minor turns to E-flat major. The horns return replacing the trumpet and the

clarinet is introduced, replacing the flute and oboe. The distressed sisters call Despina for

help. Despina – enlisted by Don Alfonso to assist in the seduction of the sisters by the

Albanians’ (but unaware of their real identities) – gives a grim prognosis on the comatose

Albanians, and encourages the sisters to give care and aid to the men while she leave with

Don Alfonso to seek a doctor with an antidote for the poison. By now the sisters are quite

shaken by the turn of events, and the men comment aside on the comic spectacle that has

unraveled, ending the section in a tutti passage of the quartet, leading into the third

section.

Again, meter and tempo remain consistent going into the third and last section of

Scene 15 (Ferrando, Guglielmo: “Ah!” / Fiordiligi, Dorabella: “Sospiran gli infelici”,

mm. 218-292) however E-flat major moves to C minor. The men feign a sigh to draw the

sister’s attention closer to them and the women approach cautiously.

The wind section has been stripped to just the bassoon, and along with the strings,

plays a skeletal variation of the Così-motif (Ex. 6a). This variation has numerous

modulations, climbing to and momentarily staying on A-flat major (mm. 240-43)

immediately following Dorabella’s “Che figure interessanti!” [“Their faces are quite

interesting!”] (Ex. 6b) 33 while accompanying Fiordiligi’s “Possiam farci un poco avanti.”

33
Charles Rosen uses this example in the orchestra where it plays a long double fugue one voice at a time
(later becoming a genuine and rich polyphony) to illustrate that “the surprising combination of baroque
contrapuntal movement and the thinnest of opera buffa textures once again holds the finest of balances
between seriousness and comedy.” (Charles Rosen, The Classical Style: 317).

16
[“We could go a little nearer.”] If it wasn’t obvious onstage that the sisters are beginning

to let down their guard, the music provides subtle hints.

Ex. 6a: No. 18 (Finale), mm. 218-222

Ex. 6b: No. 18 (Finale), mm. 238-44

The sisters gravitate to each other’s fiancé to feel their foreheads and check their

pulses. Ending the section is a quartet; the women stricken with pity towards the dying

Albanians and the men concerned that this pity might turn into love. As the development

section of the finale musically and dramatically, Brown considers this section to be the

17
turning point of the opera34. What started off as a simple and harmless charade is

beginning to turn complicated and concerning, the music expressing both sentiments in

the tutti passage of the quartet. Ending with a rest, the lovers are allowed a brief moment

to gain repose before the final section.

In the first section of the third and final scene (Scene 16: “Eccovi il medico”, mm.

292-429) the finale shifts gears. Like the previous scene, this one has three sections

corresponding to three tonal regions: G major – B-flat major – D major. Giving only a

glimpse of the impending complications of the charade in the previous C-minor section,

Mozart does not elaborate on the serious but instead changes directions towards the

comic. Set in G major at 3/4, allegro, the first section introduces the doctor in the form of

a disguised Despina – the charade now truly becoming un ballo in maschera, albeit with

two failed self -“assassination” attempts. In the return to the comic, the flutes, oboes, and

horns return to join the bassoon.

Unlike Despina’s unawareness of the Albanians’ true identities, Ferrando and

Guglielmo instantly recognize the maid incognito. The music provides a hint as well in

another instance of thematic recall: Don Alfonso uses the same motif as in Despina’s

introductory aria (No. 12) “In uomini” (Ex. 7a), and this figure forms the basis of all the

themes in this section (Ex. 7b). To the annoyance of Don Alfonso, Despina takes upon

her new role with a bit of flamboyance – addressing the women in incorrect Latin and

listing a few uncommon languages that she claims to speak35.

34
B.A. Brown, W.A. Mozart: Così fan tutte: 40.
35
In preparation for the impending parody, among the languages (Greek, Arabic, Turkish, Tartar, Vandal
…) that Despina boasts fluency of is that of Swabian, the dialect of the famous healer Franz Anton
Mesmer, who interestingly had patronized the 12-year-old Mozart and was later officially debunked in
1784 by a French government commission (with Benjamin Franklin as one of its members no less). Brown
discusses in detail Mesmer’s topicality (B.A. Brown, W.A. Mozart: Così fan tutte: 15-16).

18
Ex. 7a: No. 12 (Aria: “In uomini”), mm. 25-27

Ex. 7b: No. 18 (Finale)

After being reminded by Don Alfonso of the task on hand, Despina questions the

sisters about the poison, and then proceeds with a Mesmerian treatment consisting of a

magnet. A variant of the Così-trill is used by Despina to a comic effect bordering along

the absurd36, with the trill (doubled by the strings) coinciding with the word “celebre”

and also over a fermata with the word “Francia” in the phrase:

Questo è quel pezzo This is that piece

di calamita, of magnet,
pietra mesmerica, Mesmer’s stone,
ch’ebbe l’origine that originated
nell’Alemanna in Germany,
che poi sì celebre then was so famous
là in Francia fu. there in France.

Clearly Mozart is having a bit of fun with this infamous patron of his youth. Despina

touches the Albanians with the magnet and waves it over their bodies, and the sisters are

astonished to see the men reacting to the “treatment” with twisting and shaking of their

bodies. Despina instructs the sisters to hold the foreheads of the Albanians, and – lo and

behold – the men are cured. Ending the section is again a tutti passage of a trio consisting

of the sisters and Don Alfonso commenting that “Ah, questo medico / Vale un Perù!”

[Ah, this doctor’s worth / all the gold in Peru!]

36
Indeed it is this particular recall that reinforces another name given to the Così-trill by Daniel Heartz:
“absurd trill” (Daniel Heartz, Mozart’s Operas: 222).

19
 As the Albanians “awake” from their invalid states (“Dove son, che loco è

questo”, mm. 429-485), B-flat major in common time, andante, characterizes this next

section. Trying to keep themselves from laughing, Ferrando and Guglielmo continue their

amorous advances toward each other’s lovers in parallel duet. The orchestral texture has

changed by replacing the horns with trumpets while giving the oboe a rest.

In another example of thematic recall, Steptoe37 suggests that the phrase “Chi è

colui? Color chi sono?” [“Who is he? Who are they?”] (Ex. 8b) – is part of the

chronology of the phrase from the Act I quintet (No. 6): “Dorabella: Ah, no, no, non

partirai! / Fiordiligi: No, credel, non te n’andrai!” [“Dorabella: No, no, do not go! /

Fiordiligi: Cruel one, do not leave me!”] (Ex. 8a) – which can be regarded as a

chronology of Fiordiligi’s and Dorabella’s passions. It appears next in Fiordiligi’s

surrender to Ferrando in the Act II duet “Fra gli amplessi” (No. 29; Ex. 8c) and lastly in

the Act II Finale (Ex. 8d).

Ex. 8a: No. 6 (Quintet), mm. 36-8

Ex. 8b: No. 18 (Finale), mm. 434-5

37
Andrew Steptoe, The Mozart – Da Ponte Operas: 213-214.

20
Ex. 8c: Act II, No. 29, mm. 101-2

Ex. 8d: No. 31 (Finale), mm. 426-7

In this section the symmetries and dualities of the opera are summed up perfectly

in the sextet that is formed in pairs: Fiordiligi and Dorabella as the distressed sisters;

Ferrando and Guglielmo as the criss-crossed lovers; Despina and Don Alfonso as the

meddling co-conspirators.

Ending this section again in a tutti passage, the next and final section returns back

to D major in cut time, allegro (“Dammi un bacio o mio tesoro”, mm. 485-544). A return

to D major coincides with a return to the melodic material in the opening D major duet to

the finale, this time ascending to the dominant instead of the subdominant before

descending. The entire wind section is employed as well as the timpani.

Sensing weakness in their prey, Ferrando and Guglielmo make their move on

each other’s lovers by requesting a kiss, and the sisters respond with outrage. The tension

is heightened with the use of trumpets, horns, and timpani while accompanying the

ascending motives, pauses on ‘Stelle, un bacio?’ [‘Heavens, a kiss?’] and shifts into the

submediant [B-flat major] on ‘Tardi inver vi pentirete’ [Truly you will repent too late’].

Despina and Don Alfonso comment on the hilarity of the scene, predicting that the fire

21
that fuels this rage and fury will change to that of love. Ferrando and Guglielmo enjoy the

comic spectacle as well, yet are unsure if this fury is either feigned or sincere.

The musical dialogue alternates amongst duets and quartets before moving to the

contrapuntal sextets where Fiordiligi (and later Ferrando) provide tension-building

coloratura. The tension climaxes at the Presto section whereupon the ascending melodic

motives become descending in tutti before the orchestra takes over for a brilliant and

dynamic coda.

Profound Absurdity

In spite of its musical merits, Così fan tutte’s beginnings in existential limbo did

not end once the composer was found; six characters in search of a composer became six

characters in search of an opera. In the nineteenth-century the opera had deviated from

Mozart’s original and was performed in variety of changes that included drastic cuts to

the score38 and changes to the libretto. Indeed many found it difficult to justify the

opera’s so-called banal and trivial text; some were outright condemning:

‘O, how doubly dear and above honour is Mozart to me,’ wrote Wagner in Opera and
drama, ‘that it was not possible for him to invent music for Tito like that of Don
Giovanni, for Cosi [sic] fan tutte like that to Figaro! How shamefully would it have
desecrated Music!’39

Like most maligned operas of the past, Così fan tutte’s revival came in the

twentieth-century, especially during the early-music movement in the second half.

Traditional cuts were restored, with some productions even reinstating ‘Rivolgete a lui lo

sguardo’. Stage direction began to take into account the symmetries of the plot. What had

offended 19th-century sensibilities appealed to postmodern interpreters. Così fan tutte was

no longer a banal sexual farce but instead a drama of complex psychology; the absurd
38
Indeed the Dover score to Così fan tutte is a reproduction of the 1941 Schünemann and Soldan’s edition
containing such ‘usual’ cuts.
39
B.A. Brown, W.A. Mozart: Così fan tutte: 172.

22
had become profound. Mozart knew this all along, and the music is a subtle expression of

this relationship. Così fan tutte, is the consummation of not only the fruitful marriage

between Mozart and da Ponte, but of the perfect marriage between the music and the text

as well.

23
SOURCES

Brown, B.A. W.A. Mozart: ‘Cosí fan tutte’. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1995.

________. “Beaumarchais, Paisiello, and the Genesis of Cosí fan tutte”. In Wolfgang
Amadeus Mozart: Essays on His Life and Music, ed. Stanley Sadie. Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1996.

Burnham, Scott G. “Mozart’s felix culpa: Cosí fan tutte and the Irony of Beauty”. The
Musical Quarterly, vol. 78, no.1 (Spring 1994): 77-98.

Da Ponte, Lorenzo. Memoirs. Elisabeth Abbott, trans. New York Review of Books, 2000

Heartz, Daniel. Mozart’s Operas. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990.

________. “When Mozart Revises: The Case of Guglielmo in Cosí fan tutte”. In
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Essays on His Life and Music, ed. Stanley Sadie.
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996.

M. Hunter and J. Webster, eds. Opera buffa in Mozart’s Vienna. Cambridge, 1997.

Mann, William. The Operas of Mozart. Oxford University Press, 1977.

Mozart, W.A. Così fan tutte. Mineola: Dover Publications, 1983.

________. Così fan tutte, Vocal Score based on the Urtext of the New Mozart Edition.
Kassel: Bärenreiter-Verlag, 1990.

________. Così fan tutte. Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus. Karl Böhm, cond. EMI
5-67379-2, compact disc, 1963.

________. Così fan tutte. Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists. John Eliot
Gardiner, cond. Archiv 437829-2, compact disc, 1992.

________. Così fan tutte. Monteverdi Choir and English Baroque Soloists. John Eliot
Gardiner, cond. Peter Mumford, dir. Deutsche Grammphon DVD-Video 073-026-
9, 1992.

________. Così fan tutte. Chorus and Orchestra of the Opernhaus Zürich. Nikolaus
Harnoncourt, cond. Jürgen Flimm, dir. Art Haus Musik DVD-Video 100-013,
2000.

Osborne, Charles. The Complete Operas of Mozart: A Critical Guide. New York: Da
Capo Press, 1978.

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Platoff, John. “Tonal Organization in ‘Buffo’ Finales and the Act II Finale of Le Nozze di
Figaro”. Music & Letters, vol. 72 no. 3. (Aug. 1991): 387-403.

Rosen, Charles. The Classical Style: Hadyn, Mozart, Beethoven. New York: W.W.
Norton, 1997.

Solomon, Maynard. Mozart, a Life. New York: HarperCollins, 1995.

Steptoe, Andrew. The Mozart-Da Ponte Operas: the Cultural and Musical Background
to ‘Le nozze di Figaro’, ‘Don Giovanni’, and ‘Così fan tutte’. Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1988.

Till, Nicholas, Mozart and the Enlightenment: Truth, Virtue, and Beauty in Mozart’s
Operas. London, 1992.

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