|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Livermore Valley Opera is set to present a rom-com classic featuring couples pushing the boundaries of their love.
Set to the tune of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s music, “Così fan tutte” tells the story of a bet between two men about whether they can woo each other’s fiancées. To make it all the more real, the men fake their deployment to war and bid their partners goodbye.
The bet begets disguises and a flurry of emotions as the women develop feelings for their suitors. Along with their newfound attraction, the characters struggle with the feeling of guilt.
The opera’s title translates to “all women are like that”, according to director Rob Herriot, but he prefers “we are all like that” to reflect everyone’s potential to fall in love with more than one person.
“It’s a study in human nature,” Herriot said of the production. “Opera isn’t an archaic art form. It’s a display of everything coming together. The voice, the text, the emotion – all heightened, but we in our lives all feel these things, no matter what century we’re from.”
Throughout the show, there are moments of humor, sadness and heartbreak, Herriot said.
Sisters Fiordiligi and Dorabella are devastated over their fiancés’ departure to war, where the men are assumed to be killed, according to Meryl Dominguez, who portrays Fiordiligi.
Upon losing her partner Guglielmo and meeting her suitor Ferrando, teenage Fiordiligi wrestles with her desire for agency and partnership, Dominguez explained.
“She wants to be loved and accepted,” Dominguez said. “She’s only ever been allowed to be something for other people.”
“In today’s politics, it can be read as very sexist,” Dominguez said of “Così fan tutte”, without concern for the upcoming shows. “I have full faith in Rob that we’re going to have a great production and we’re going to find a wonderful way of tying things together that make these full characters rather than the shadows on the wall they can sometimes feel like in productions.”
Intertwining with the story is Mozart’s music, considered by Herriot as some of the composer’s best creations.
“It really is music you can’t help but fall in love with,” Herriot said.
In addition to Dominguez, the production features Megan Potter as Dorabella, Sid Chand as Ferrando, Samuel Kidd as Guglielmo, Eugene Brancoveanu as instigator Don Alfonso and Courtney Miller as fellow instigator Despina.
The production also features music director Alexander Katsman and chorusmaster Bruce Olstad.
“Così fan tutte” is sung in Italian with English supertitles. It marks the second production in LV Opera’s 2025-26 season.
The production is scheduled to premiere at 7:30 p.m. this Saturday (Feb. 28) at the Bankhead Theater in downtown Livermore. Ahead of the performance opening night, LV Opera is hosting a four-course dinner the same day at 4 p.m. at Uncle Yu’s in Livermore to kick off the production.
The remaining three performances are scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. this Sunday (March 1) and next Saturday and Sunday (March 7-8). For tickets and more information, visit the Bankhead website at livermorearts.org.
