"Cosi fan tutte" ("Women are like that"), composed in 1790, was regarded as an immoral tale of fiancee swapping during the 19th century. While it offended sensibilities then, today the work is considered one of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's most sophisticated operas, and it will be staged at Suntory Hall in March.
"This is the final round of our Mozart opera trilogy and will be the pinnacle of our 'Hall Opera' series," says executive producer Keiko Manabe, who has been at the helm of the hall's operatic endeavors from the beginning.
Suntory Hall, which opened in 1986 in Tokyo's Akasaka district, was the first building in Japan designed exlusively for classical concerts, and it was mostly used for instrumentals at first. In 1989, Giuseppe Verdi's "La Traviata" was the first concert-style opera to be held there, and Manabe has continued to produce the series annually ever since.