Mozart: Cosi Fan Tutte – Margaret Price

   in Opera Now (Mar, 2018)
Così fan tutte, as recorded here in Munich in 1978, is one of those ‘wish I’d been there’ occasions. Wolfgang Sawallisch, then music director of the Bavarian State Opera, conducts the most relaxed yet refined version imaginable. There is a natural and generous flow to the performance. There is also a palpable sense of atmosphere, the audience sounding genuinely amused in Act I, before a hush descends over the remainder (fear not, the sound is generally very clear and stage noise kept to a minimum). The cast is luxurious. Theo Adam and Reri Grist pull the strings as Don Alfonso and Despina – she is funny without resorting to cutesy. Peter …