Mozart’s Così fan tutte, one of the composer’s most beloved and provocative operas, will be presented at the Athens Concert Hall on Sunday, October 11, in a recorded performance from New York’s Metropolitan Opera.
The performance, which begins at 8 p.m. in the Alexandra Trianti Hall, will be presented in Italian with Greek subtitles.
Written in 1790 to a libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, Così fan tutte explores love, fidelity and human weakness beneath a deceptively lighthearted surface. At its center are two young officers who wager that their fiancées will remain faithful to them — only to set in motion a game of disguise that quickly spins beyond their control.
The opera’s provocative premise has made it one of the most discussed works in the repertoire, as Mozart and Da Ponte probe the limits of romantic loyalty and the ways people can be transformed when the rules of love become a game.
Mozart meets Coney Island
For this new production, director Phelim McDermott relocates the story to a colorful seaside amusement park inspired by Coney Island, New York’s legendary entertainment district.
For generations, Coney Island has represented a place where everyday life could be suspended and almost anything seemed possible. Against this bright but distinctly surreal backdrop, the opera’s two couples confront challenges that go beyond romantic fidelity, forcing them to grapple with questions of identity as well.
Mozart’s “Così fan tutte”
Dress rehearsal photographed: Tuesday, February 11, 2020; 10:00 AM at The Metropolitan Opera; New York, NY. Photograph: © 2020 Richard Termine/Met Opera
PHOTO CREDIT – RICHARD TERMINE/Met Opera
The result places Mozart’s 18th-century story in a setting associated with spectacle, fantasy and escape, creating a striking contrast between the opera’s timeless questions about love and the exuberant world surrounding its characters.
An international cast
The production features an international cast led by Federica Lombardi as Fiordiligi, Samantha Hankey as Dorabella, Ana María Martínez as Despina, Duke Kim as Ferrando, Andrey Zhilikhovsky as Guglielmo and Gerald Finley as Don Alfonso.
Nimrod David Pfeffer conducts.
The recorded Metropolitan Opera performance will be shown at the Athens Concert Hall on Sunday, October 11, 2026, at 8 p.m. It will be performed in Italian with Greek subtitles.
— N. S.
