A Fresh Take on a Classic Comedy Returns to the Stage After 15 Years
Hampton Roads, Richmond, Fairfax, VA (January 16, 2025) – Virginia Opera is thrilled to announce the return of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Così fan tutte to stages for the first time since 2010. This enduring masterwork will be directed by the acclaimed Mo Zhou, whose previous work at the helm of last season’s Madama Butterfly provided audiences with stimulating and inventive perspectives. Virginia Opera’s Artistic Director and Chief Conductor, Adam Turner, will lead the Virginia Symphony Orchestra in this comedic masterpiece, exploring themes of love, loyalty, and deception.
The production will feature a stellar cast, including Keely Futterer as Fiordiligi, making her Virginia Opera mainstage debut. Praised by Opera News as a “high-quality lyric soprano with a keen verbal nuance,” Ms. Futterer is “charging up the ladder of vocal-music prominence.” Mezzo-soprano Kristen Choi (Madama Butterfly 2024, A Midsummer Night’s Dream 2018), a former Herndon Foundation Emerging Artist, returns in the role of Dorabella. With Opera News dubbing her a “powerhouse in the making” for her portrayal of Suzuki in Madama Butterfly, Ms. Choi has had notable recent performances with Opera Philadelphia, Dallas Opera, and Washington National Opera. Tenor Terrence Chin-Loy, celebrated for his performance in Sanctuary Road last season, and whom Opera News has described as having a “beautiful lyric tenor voice” pairs passionate performance with a full, sweet sound, will portray Ferrando. Baritone Ethan Vincent (Don Giovanni 2024), Celebrated for his “compelling stage presence” by the Chicago Tribune and hailed as a “rising star” by the Philadelphia Inquirer, returns as Guglielmo. Virginia Opera audiences will also recognize bass-baritone Wm. Clay Thompson (Don Giovanni 2024), who has been praised for his “mahogany-timbred” voice and “imposing presence” (Opera News), as the scheming Don Alfonso. Making her mainstage debut, Ashley Fabian, who is acclaimed by the New York Classical Review as “a vision of sunshine and joy”, possessing a “lovely lyric soprano”, will bring charm and wit to the role of Despina.
Mo Zhou’s reflections on this fresh take – “At its surface, Mozart’s Così fan tutte has long been dismissed as a silly tale of love and betrayal. But beneath the disguises and schemes, the opera reveals a razor-sharp exploration of human vulnerability, desire, and the fragile constructs we mistake for love. In this production, inspired by The Great Gatsby, we set the story in a grand hotel during the Roaring Twenties, an era where dazzling surfaces masked profound discontent, and where love, like wealth, often proved ephemeral. In this gilded cage setting, we observe the prismatic depth of Mozart’s genius and the opera’s unflinching examination of the human heart. I invite you to see past the bubbly surfaces – both of the Jazz Age and of the opera itself – and to hear the questions Mozart poses: What do we value? What do we believe about love? And when the gilded cage begins to crack, do we dare to fly?”
“Così fan tutte is a sparkling gem in Mozart’s repertoire, blending rich musicality with brilliant storytelling,” said Adam Turner, Artistic Director and Chief Conductor. “We’re excited to bring this long-overdue classic back to the stage with such a talented cast and creative team, and I’m particularly thrilled to have Mo Zhou returning to lend her visionary direction.”
Performances will take place in Norfolk at the Harrison Opera House on Friday, February 21, and Sunday, February 23, 2025, and in Richmond at the Dominion Energy Center for the Performing Arts on Friday, February 28, and Sunday, March 2, 2025. The Virginia Symphony Orchestra will accompany all performances.
Don’t miss this opportunity to experience one of Mozart’s most delightful operas, filled with humor, intrigue, and some of the composer’s most exquisite music.
Tickets for Così fan tutte and Virginia Opera’s 50th Anniversary Season are now available for purchase. For more information, visit www.vaopera.org or contact the Virginia Opera Box Office at 866-673-7282.
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About Virginia Opera
Virginia Opera, the official opera company of the Commonwealth of Virginia, is one of the finest regional opera companies in the nation and is the only company to perform regularly in three separate main stage venues: the Harrison Opera House in Norfolk, the Carpenter Theatre at the Dominion Energy Center in Richmond, and Center for the Arts at George Mason University in Fairfax. Organized in 1974, Virginia Opera is respected nationwide for the identification and presentation of the finest young artists, for the musical and dramatic integrity of its productions, and for the ingenuity and variety of its education and outreach programs.
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