Darius Kadivar

Abbas Kiarostami will be directing an Opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart next July entitled "Cosi fan tutte" aka Thus Do They All de Mozart for the 60th Annual of the International Festival of Lyrical Art in France’s d'Aix-en-Provence.

This new production will be performed 8 times between the 4th and 19th of July2008 at the Théâtre de l'Archevêché. The Salzburg “Camerata” Orchestra will be conducted by French conductor Christophe Rousset. It is co-produced with the help of the British National Opera (ENO) will also host the Opera later in the year after the July Premiere.Così fan tutte, ossia La scuola degli amanti (aka Thus Do They All, or The School For Lovers) K. 588, is an opera buffa by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The libretto was written by Lorenzo da Ponte. Così is one of the three Mozart operas for which da Ponte wrote the libretto. (The title is often shortened to Così in the English-speaking world.) The other two da Ponte-Mozart collaborations were Le nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni. Cosi was written and composed at the suggestion of the Emperor Joseph II.

The libretto was originally intended to be set to music by Mozart's contemporary Antonio Salieri but Salieri only completed parts of the first act and then broke off work on the opera.

The title, Così fan tutte, literally means "Thus do all [women]" but it is often translated as "Women are like that". The words are sung by the three men in Act II, Scene xiii, just before the finale. Da Ponte had used the line "Così fan tutte le belle" earlier in Le nozze di Figaro (in Act I, Scene vii).

Listen to Famous Score

The idea of staging the Opera was suggested to Kiarostami by Bernard Foccroulle the Belgian director of the Lyrical French Festival. Kiarostami told French presse news agency (AFP) that "at the first meeting I said no, that I was not worthy. But then Bernard convinced me to accept the challenge... it's an immense pleasure and honor." He added “The more I got to learn about this Opera, the more I realized the universality of the themes in Mozart’s "Cosi fan tutte". In a sense as artists we all play music but with different instruments. Now that I experienced this change, I find that it is no different from directing a film. I want to thank Bernard (Foccroulle) for being instrumental in pushing me in this new direction despite.”.
Kiarostami will soon be directing his next feature film “Certified Copy” this march with French Star’s Juliette Binoche and Sami Frey to be shot in Tuscany.

Authors Notes:

Official Website of the Aix En Provence Festival