Thus Do They All

I saw Così fan tutte [Thus do they all, or, Women are like that] two days ago. It's one of my favorite operas, not so much because of the plot, but more because of the sheer gorgeousness of the music--that Mozart knew what he was doing. I love any of the three Mozart-da Ponte collaborations, but in comparison to the others, the plot of Così is pretty sexist, and is actually rather thin. There is really not much action, although there is the usual requisite amount of cross-dressing, which is always a fun time.

Basically, it goes like this: two officers, Ferrando and Guglielmo, are bet by their older (and wiser?) friend, Don Alfonso, that their fiancés are fickle, like all women, and would not be faithful to them if left to their own devices. The men reluctantly agree to try and scheme their fiancés to see if they will be unfaithful, so they go with Don Alfonso and tell the women, Dorabella and Fiordiligi (side note: is that not the greatest name ever??) that they have been called to war. Then, they double back, dressed as Albanians, and seduce the opposite one's fiancé, who, of course, succumbs. For what it's worth, Fiordiligi has a bit more moral fiber than her sister (and also some great arias), but eventually they both "cheat" on their fiancés, who are also cheating on THEM, if you think about it. At the end, the men reveal themselves, after a lot of clothes swapping and scheming from Don Alfonso and the tricksy maid Despina, who steals the show. They ultimately forgive each other, of course, and they go back to their original partners. Although--I think they should have stayed with the people they switched for. Actually, our production ended rather ambiguously, as they moved back to their original couplings, but seemed conflicted about it. It was an oddly uncomedic ending for an oddly comic work.

As I said, I'm not wild about the plot, but the music is so good that I don't really care. Listen here and here and here and here!! IU, as usual, did a wonderful job. I went with two friends, after a lovely Vietnamese meal. The Despina our night was fantastic, as was Ferrando in particular, although the entire cast was great. They updated the set to late 19th century Florida, and it worked quite well--it wasn't a drastic enough change to totally modify the mood of the opera as a whole. I cracked up inopportunely twice, the first time because one line was about "mustaches being feathers of love," which made us giggle, and the second because Dorabella was kissing Guglielmo, and my friend jabbed me in the ribs with her elbow and hissed "hussy," which also made me laugh. It is a funny opera in general though! Any downsides? The woman behind me coughed on my hair for the entire overture, and the plot made me think about something that I didn't really want to think about: my sexism.

I think the general sexism of this opera was more nagging this time because I have found myself being rather sexist lately, which is something that I am usually not. (Because being a feminist means that you think the sexes are equal, not that women are better than men.) Mostly this stems from the fact that my friends have not been having good luck with men lately. My general relationship prospectives are usually so non-existent that I don't really count in this, but there have been some really stupid moves made by some of the men that I interact with, especially in the way that some of my friends have been treated. So I have been finding myself dismissing all males in their mid-20s off-hand as egotistical, poisonous, and self-centered, or slackers who are looking for a meal ticket, or workaholic grad students who are too busy and/or dismissive to deal with their feelings (or lack thereof). This generalization is not fair. Some of my friends are in lovely relationships, and I have nothing to personally complain about. At the same time though, my gut reaction is to write off men my age as unreliable, fickle, and changeable, which is EXACTLY what Don Alfonso argued about women.

Not all men are fickle, and not all women are either. Perhaps that is the overall message to take from Così fan tutte. We're all just people, no better than each other, trying to pick our way through dating minefields, schoolwork, bills, and hormones, to find out about each other. Thus do we all. And best of luck to us.

To quote Regina Spektor, in her excellent song Ghost of Corporate Future:

"And people are just people,
They shouldn't make you nervous.
The world is everlasting,
It's coming and it's going.
If you don't toss your plastic,
The streets won't be so plastic.
And if you kiss somebody,
Then both of you'll get practice.

The world is everlasting
Put dirtballs in your pocket,
Put dirtballs in your pocket,
And take off both your shoes.
'Cause people are just people,
People are just people,
People are just people like you."