Mozart's Così fan Tutte - Act II finale

[Daidalos]

For the last couple of weeks, I've listened almost religiously to this opera. In the past, I've had difficulty with Così, but now I'm completely convinced of its greatness. Whenever I listen to it, I marvel at its beauty, its concision and the ingenuity of the ensembles. The act two duet fra glie amplessi never fails to move me, or send shivers down my spine at that crudel.

However, regardless of my newfound appreciation of the opera, there's one thing about it that I cannot help but find somewhat unsatisfactory: the portrayal of Dorabella and Fioridiligi in the finale of the second act.

During the course of the opera, the sisters are developed differently, with Dorabella being the more flighty one and Fiordiligi the more serious and tragic character. Just compare their arias in act two, Fiordiligi's per pieta, ben io, perdona and Dorabella's e amore un ladroncello, they couldn't be more different.

Furthermore, their respective duets with the men, il core vi dono for Dorabella and Guglielmo and fra glie amplessi for Fiordiligi and Ferrando, highlight the two sisters' differences rather well. Dorabella doesn't not seem to mind at all that she's being seduced, and she has no bad feelings afterwards (as evidenced by e amore un ladroncello), while Fiordiligi appears perfectly tortured. Fiordiligi's thoughts on the matter after her seduction are hardly expounded, unfortunately, as the finale kicks into action shortly after her fall.

And then, the finale. While Mozart wrote superlative music for the finale, I feel there's something missing about it. In the finale, the girls seem pretty much undifferentiated, as though they've regressed back to act one and all development that has occured during act two has been forgotten. Would really two girls who have been demonstrated to be so different from each other, react in veritably the same way when they find out that they've been tricked by their fiances? Would Fiordiligi, who felt so ashamed of herself that she could love another man, be so contrite and forgiving towards Guglielmo who entertained himself with her sister, just because of a bet they made? Would Dorabella behave in the same way, also? It strains my credibility (which is of course deliciously ironic because, after all, it's opera we're talking about).

What do you feel about this issue? Should da Ponte have made the girls a bit more different in the finale, or was the ending justified? I guess I can get the potential argument that since both girls, in the end, did succumb to the men's advances, they aren't really that different, and all protestations and tears were simply posturing. In that case, maybe it makes sense that they appear so similar in the end, but I feel that to be even more unsatisfactory. It means that everything we learn of the girls in act two from their arias and duets, all of it, are illusions and lies, which is too cynical even for Così.

I would be most grateful to hear of any dramatic or musical justifications you can think of that could have motivated da Ponte and/or Mozart to set the finale as they did, for right now I don't know what to think of it.

[(poco) Sforzando]

I would recommend reading Joseph Kerman's treatment of the issue in "Opera as Drama." While it's hardly the last or only word, I think he will have some provocative comments on this issue, and the book is easy to find used for very little money.

[val]

I also recommend Josef Kerman's book, although I think that there are other intersting perspectives regarding the end of the opera. Kaminski says that the aria "Fra gli amplessi", with its deep emotion, shows that in fact Fiordiligi loves Ferrando and is loved by him. So, the return to the original coupes in the end is just a cynical solution, leaving the door open to future changes and betrayal.

To me, the most important message in the end is that we shouldn't give such an importance to those sings: "Fortunato e l'uomo" as they sing in the end, suggesting that romantic and eternal love are just illusions. We must accept that things change, people's feelings change, nothing remains forever.