Cosi fan Tutte at the SkyCity Theatre

By WILLIAM DART

Cosi fan Tutte has nostalgic associations for some Aucklanders, as it was this Mozart work that, 25 years ago, launched the then-National Opera of New Zealand, with Anthony Besch's celebrated black-and-white production.

By comparison, NBR New Zealand Opera's new touring Cosi is a burst of luscious colour. John Parker's set, Elizabeth Whitehouse's costumes and Allan McShane's lighting achieve wonders in the various realms of orange, yellow and purple.

The amatory tangles of the piece provide intense amusement, too. Director Carmel Carroll has skilfully propelled the opera's comedic side and it shows in the snap-and-crackle of the recitatives, delivered against Michael Vinten's spirited flourishes on an electronic harpsichord.

The two pairs of lovers (Stephanie Acraman and Tim DuFore, alongside Zan McKendree-Wright and Benjamin Fifita Makisi) spar and toy with each other's affections, while Katherine Wiles and David Hibbard are suitably wily plotters. All of which results in some crisp ensemble work.

Unfortunately, the arias are served less well, even though Makisi makes a winning Ferrando from his introductory La mia Dorabella capace non e, and Acraman is creditable in Fiordiligi's challenging arias such as Per pieta.

Too often, Mozart's transparent writing lacks the refinement and finish it needs. Too often there is tightness, forced tone, and not enough attention to the graceful inflections of the line.

Perhaps some blame can be laid on the terrible sounds emanating from the accompanying band - eight performances into the tour one might have expected better.

With no real orchestral pit, Michael Vinten's salon orchestra was somewhat in-your-face, to use contemporary parlance. At times, watching Cosi was like trying to enjoy a civilised piece of 18th-century theatre with a bucolic village band in the way.

Basically, you cannot do justice to Mozart with the orchestral strings reduced to a quintet. Violin lines were excruciatingly exposed, sometimes laughably so when doubling voices, and one felt the lack of a solid bass line in the group.

As a touring show taking opera to the provinces, this is a laudable venture. Larger centres deserve better.