"It's going to be something like the last run-through before going to work on the stage, which is often a very exciting time."
This may well be the case for cast and production team, but is it fair to fob off an audience which has paid for full performance with a rehearsal room featuring two antiquated radiators, a couple of freestanding pillars, a few meagre props and no costumes worthy of the name? Graham Vick, whose brilliant Gioielli della Madonna at Wexford in 1981 launched an outstanding talent in the operatic world, has been changing course in recent years, though not always for the better, and this new production of Cosi fan tutte for Glyndebourne suggests that he is now in danger of losing his way entirely.
His expertise in the management of stage characters remains unimpaired, however, and the four young lovers cavort to highly comic effect in the imbroglio with the "Albanians", then go on to achieve real pathos in the betrayal and final reconciliation scenes. Don Alfonso and Despina are downgraded to cypher status in this concept, which is hard on Alan Opie and Daniela Mazzucato, but there is fine singing, with acting to match, from Barbara Frittoli and Katerina Karneus as Fiordiligi and Dorabella, plus exceptionally elegant phrasing and tone from Roberto Sacca as Ferrando and staunch if slightly low-key support from Natale De Carolis as Gug lieme. Andrew Davis conducts at a sprightly pace, sometimes approaching a breakneck speed which challenges but ultimately fails to defeat the skill of his singers.