Mozart - Così fan tutte
La Monnaie, Brussels, Sunday June 2 2013 Conductor: Ludovic Morlot. Production: Michael Haneke. Sets: Christoph Kanter. Costumes: Moidele Bickel. Lighting: Urs Schönebaum. Fiordiligi: Anett Fritsch. Dorabella: Paola Gardina. Guglielmo: Andreas Wolf. Ferrando: Juan Francisco Gatell. Despina: Kerstin Avemo. Don Alfonso: William Shimell. Orchestra and chorus of La Monnaie. " Yes , [Mozart's characters] are overwhelmed as well as overwhelming and set challenges for one another. They go astray and end up not knowing which way to turn. They want to ‘save face’ and, to do so, lose track more and more of who they really are. It’s a lot to do with self-assertion and fear ". (Michael Haneke on La Monnaie's website.) I was at first concerned to read, in La Libre Belgique , that Michael Haneke had "chosen and imposed" the cast for this production of Così fan tutte . Stage directors do too much "imposing" of casts, forcing us to put up with voiceless won...