By Zara B, Music Rep

On Friday 18th of March, a group of music students from Year 7 and above headed to see Mozart’s “Cosi Fan Tutte” at the London Coliseum. It is a tradition for Year 9 students to be invited to an opera trip each March, and they all seemed to enjoy it thoroughly. They were joined by music scholars from Years 7-12. 

The plot follows two sisters, Fiordiligi and Dorabella, and their fiances, Ferrando and Guglielmo. With the help of a tempting bribe, manipulative Don Alfonso persuades the men to play a game with their lovers, in order to test the womens’ fidelity. The prominent misogyny within the storyline provoked some interesting conversations among the older students and, although we fundamentally disagreed with many of the stereotypes, the ENO’s hyperbolic interpretation of the opera allowed us to objectively enjoy the music whilst still acknowledging the problematic elements.

It was interesting to hear each other’s opinions on whether we thought the opera had aged well as, despite the fact that the plot is unrealistic to modern day society, it succeeded in making the audience laugh, so it arguably served its purpose as a comedy. The circus-like atmosphere of the production added to the over the top nature of the opera, with acrobatics and a sword-swallower among other crazy talents.

I really enjoyed it, and I look forward to similar trips in the future!