Conductor relishes return to Mozart opera 'Cosi fan tutte'

By: PAM KRAGEN - Staff Writer | Wednesday, February 16, 2005 2:22 PM PST ∞

For San Diego Opera conductor Karen Keltner, returning to the score of Mozart's opera "Cosi fan tutte" is like slipping on a pair of well-worn leather gloves. The music fits snugly with the vocal parts, and the luxurious feel of the piece improves with each wearing.

Keltner, resident conductor and music administrator for San Diego Opera since 1982, has conducted "Cosi fan tutte" three or four times in the past, but never, she says, with such a fine cast as that assembled for the production opening Saturday.

Keltner said that every time she returns to the much-loved opera, she (and the musicians in her orchestra) appreciate Mozart more.

"I think we all stand in awe of this music," she said, in a post-rehearsal interview last week. "As soon as we start rehearsing, you hear this collective sigh of gratitude, pleasure and appreciation among the musicians to be with a composer who writes so amazingly characteristic for every instrument, including the voice. His genius boggles my mind."

The pit orchestra Keltner is working with for "Cosi fan tutte" has changed slightly in the past month. In January, San Diego Opera signed a contract to put the San Diego Symphony into its pit for all future performances. While most of the San Diego Opera Orchestra members are part of the Symphony (and are continuing to perform for the opera company), there have been a few changes in personnel.

"There are some new people and lots of familiar people. It's pleasurable working with the orchestra and making the acquaintance of the musicians I haven't known before, but I miss certain faces very much," she said.

In "Cosi fan tutte" (Italian for "So Do They All"), two pairs of lovers learn that the most robust relationship can deflate when pricked by outside pressures.

In the story, Guglielmo and Fiordiligi are a young couple passionately devoted to each other. And Fiordiligi's sister, Dorabella, is equally bound to her love, Ferrando. When an elderly bachelor, Don Alfonso, offers the two men a wager to test the women's faithfulness, they accept ---- certain of their victory. Disguised as Albanian soldiers, the men woo each other's sweethearts and are surprised not only at the results but also at their own feelings.

Last presented by San Diego Opera in 1999, the production designed and directed by Leon Major is set at a sunny, luxurious 1912 beachfront hotel reminiscent of the Hotel del Coronado. World War I looms on the horizon as the lovers thrust and parry.

Featured as Fiordiligi is soprano Jennifer Casey Cabot (last seen here in "The Magic Flute"), and playing her sister, Dorabella, is mezzo soprano Phyllis Pancella in her company debut. Starring as the two friends Ferrando and Guglielmo are real-life best friends Michael Schade and Russell Braun, respectively, who played best friends once before with San Diego Opera in last season's "The Pearl Fishers."

Returning in the role of the sisters' mischievous maid, Despina, is soprano Sheryl Woods (who stole the show in the 1999 production). Bass Dean Peterson ("Cold Sassy Tree") plays Don Alfonso. The opera will be sung in its original Italian with English supertitles projected above the stage.

Keltner said "Cosi fan tutte" is prized by musicians and singers alike for the serenity of its arias and the delicate interweaving of its score and vocal parts.

"The music is so wedded to the mood," she said. "Mozart does things with instruments to an aria or duet or trio which are absolutely integrated with the singing. The voices are glorious but without the orchestra, it wouldn't give you the same effect at all."

Keltner said the cast has told her they all count "Cosi" as among their favorite operas to perform, despite the vocal challenges it presents.

"Mozart is nourishing. It's a phenomenon," she said. "You get a Mozart gig and you say 'ah' because you know you'll be spending time in great artistry and beauty."

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