Così fan tutte

For a long time, Così fan tutte was considered scandalous. Which is not entirely surprising if you look at its story of two sisters (Maria Ewing and Pilar Lorengar) who jump from grief over their fiancés going off to war to agreeing to marry two attractive strangers (David Rendall and Lenus Carlson) within the space of a couple days. Except the strangers are in fact the fiancés in disguise, and the whole thing is a plot masterminded by a cynical old philosopher (Donald Gramm) and a clever maid (Kathleen Battle). Scandalous or not, Così fan tutte has remained one of opera’s most contemporary comedies—especially when conducted masterfully by James Levine.