Zurich opera - spell-binding contemporary

Zurich Opera chose to set its first scenes in the contemporary surroundings of a modern health club, in this fast moving and gripping adaptation of Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte. Future Cities Forum attended the premiere on 4th November.

In sharp contrast to the 19th century classical painted ceilings of the theatre, lighting designer Franck Evin has divided the physical stage space into two modern boxes one on top of the other, where video of the action is projected onto rough concrete grey walls. White strip lighting surrounds the boxes containing a hard-edged world of raw emotions and passionate dealings.

Ferrando and Guglielmo pretend to go off to war returning in disguise with the intention of seducing each other's fiancees, but what starts as a harmless game, turns into a cruel experiment to test fidelity.

Zurich Opera House puts on this production, the heart of which is the concept by producer Kirill Serebrennikov, who has been under house arrest in Moscow since August 2017, accused of embezzling state funds, and his idea has been implemented by his co-director Evgeny Kulagi

Well received by the audience, this is a bold and contemporary production that is spell-binding and deserves wide acclaim.

Image courtesy and copyright Monika Rittershaus