Cosi Essay: Gender Thoughts

by

John Neal Axelrod

 

The Twentieth Century was an important step in understanding gender differences. Women’s rights were expanded to this most significant and unprecedented degree since the beginning of Judeo-Christian culture (despite a few Queens and women rulers along the way). Women were endowed with universal rights, and suffrage, and considered equal to their male counterparts in all areas. Only one thing continued to remain not so equal: love. The debate continues, and despite all efforts to resolve the question of how do men and women love, we may conclude, as did John Gray, that we are simply from different planets, and therefore, there is no use in trying to understand. It is interesting that in a culture dominated by images of male infidelity and promiscuity, from Don Juan to James Bond to Austin Powers, that the last of Da Ponte’s libretti would put forth the notion that men are in fact the faithful ones and women are unable to maintain their fidelity. As Da Ponte writes in the words of Don Alfonso, “ The faithfulness of women is like the Phoenix: Everyone talks about it, but no one has seen it.” Cosi Fan Tutt(e) means All Women Are Like That. Is that truly the case? Why not Cosi Fan Tutt(i), meaning All Are Like That, or All Men Are Like That? And why have all the great operas and tragedies been usually focused on the infidelities of women? Samson and Delilah, Tristan and Isolde, Othello, and others are centered on the wrongdoings of the weaker (or better) sex. Is this because they are written by Men whose egos are insecure and often emasculated when they are rejected by the (here’s the right description) fairer sex? Is this their way of getting back? Did Mozart accept Da Ponte’s libretto, one that was fashioned by Da Ponte, rather than modeled after a familiar subject, because Mozart, too, was troubled by the possible infidelities, or flirtations, of Constanze, his wife? The 19th Century was not so kind to Cosi Fan Tutte. Though Mozart was very much in vogue and the improprieties of Don Giovanni were endlessly entertaining to Victorians (Lord Byron himself was living proof such as man could exist), the idea that a woman would betray her true love for another within 24 hours was too much for the Victorian mentality. There were all sorts of adaptations and re-workings to make it more palatable. But it was not until former Houston Symphony Music Director, Sir Thomas Beecham, revived the original production in England in 1911, that this opera, a gem of Opera Buffa, found its rightful place in the repertoire. Where does that leave us now? The simple story has its timeless and comedic elements. Two friends, engaged to two sisters. A wily old man, and a crusty maid, both experienced in the ways of the world, bet the two guys their girls will cheat on them. They guys accept the bet and dress in disguise to dupe their very own girlfriends. The ending is worth the wait. But what if it was the other way around? How easy would it be for the men to have betrayed their women? Or each other? What about this story in the age of gay equality? That’s what makes Cosi Fan Tutte so much fun- because the women are not supposed to do this sort of thing, whereas men do it all the time, and there are plenty of ways to explore this theme. Mozart’s laughing the whole time, too, though he takes this music seriously. The orchestration is among his finest work, perhaps because, written a year before his death, he was at the peak of his artform. But also, because this was an opera where the music supported a story that all, though not wanting to admit it, could relate to. It is this identification which makes it a universal opera. We will all either be shocked or more likely laugh at ourselves, hearing music that seeps into our souls and recognizing a story that will resonate within the deepest, darkest corners of our psyche. We are all like that, like it or not. So let’s just have fun and not worry about it….