The Guildhall School presents Mozart’s opera Così fan tutte

Così fan tutte
Music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte
Sung in Italian

5 – 12 November, Silk Street Theatre

Dominic Wheeler conductor
Oliver Platt director
Neil Irish designer
Rory Beaton lighting designer

Cast A: (5 & 9 November)

Alexandra Lowe (Fiordiligi); Carmen Artaza (Dorabella); Zoe Drummond (Despina); Filipe Manu (Ferrando); Benson Wilson (Guglielmo); Christian Valle (Don Alfonso)

Cast B: (7 & 12 November)

Samantha Clarke (Fiordiligi); Lucy McAuley (Dorabella); Madison Nonoa (Despina); Frederick Jones (Ferrando); Seán Boylan (Guglielmo); Samuel Carl (Don Alfonso)

The Guildhall School’s opera department presents Mozart’s tuneful comic opera Così fan tutte, opening on Monday 5 November, for four performances. The opera in two acts is conducted by Dominic Wheeler and directed by Oliver Platt.

The story follows Ferrando and Guglielmo, who are convinced that their girlfriends Dorabella and Fiordiligi would never be unfaithful. Don Alfonso, an old philosopher, has his reservations and convinces the men to try an experiment. Mozart delights in this frailty of human nature in his comic tale of narcissistic, unfaithful lovers, but in his timeless battle of the sexes, love will always win. First performed in 1790, the work is Mozart’s final collaboration with Italian librettist Lorenzo da Ponte.

Dominic Wheeler has a wealth of experience conducting at both conservatoires and with major opera companies, including ENO, Opera North, Opera New Zealand, English Touring Opera and Scottish Opera. In 2014 he made his BBC Proms debut conducting the BBC

Concert Orchestra and BBC Singers in the Pet Shop Boys Late Night Prom. Wheeler became Head of Opera at the Guildhall School in 2012, where his conducting credits include The Rape of Lucretia (Spring 2016), the world stage premiere of Arnold’s The Dancing Master and the UK stage premiere of Donizetti’s I pazzi per progetto (March 2015). Other productions at the Guildhall School include Mavra and Iolanta in 2016, the world premiere of Julian Philips’ The Tale of Januarie in March 2017 and Francis Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites in March 2018.

Oliver Platt grew up in Devon and studied music at The University of York. He has recently directed Cosí fan Tutte (Opera Holland Park) Der Freischütz (Blackheath Halls Opera) Don Giovanni (Opera Holland Park) The Elixir of Love  (Scottish Opera), La Cenerentola (Opera Holland Park and Danish National Opera), which was nominated for a Reumert Prize, and Owen Wingrave  (The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland). Other recent productions include Suor Angelica, (and the revival of Gianni Schicchi) as part of Il Trittico (OHP) in 2015, which was nominated for a RPS award and a WhatsOnStage award for best new production, and was chosen as one of The Telegraph's best 5 productions of the year. Other productions include Werther (ETO), Il Barbiere di Siviglia and Les Pêcheurs de Perles (OHP) and scenes for the Royal College of Music and Royal Academy of Music. Platt has also worked extensively as an assistant/staff director, including productions at the Royal Opera House, Scottish Opera, Glyndebourne, Opera Holland Park, English Touring Opera, Tête à Tête and the Royal College of Music for directors including Sir David McVicar, Barrie Kosky and Kasper Holten. Future engagements include directing a new productions for Opera Holland Park and RAM.