Mozart - Così fan tutte / Fleming, von Otter, Scarabelli, Lopardo, Bär, Pertusi, Solti

This delicately balanced story of two engaged couples who are inveigled into a brief flirtation with infidelity inspired some of the finest music Mozart ever composed. It is often textured with the fine nuances of chamber music, with some particularly delectable woodwind parts, and it progresses from contrived artificiality--when the two men make a rash bet with a friend about the unshakable faithfulness of their fiancées--into intense despair when that fidelity begins to be shaken. There is also slapstick-level comedy. It is all held together under Georg Solti's genial direction, with singing--solo and ensemble--of the highest quality. --Joe McLellan