Produced by Harmonia Mundi.
Discovering Così fan tutte
An Interactive Journey into the World of Mozart's OperaBonus free CDROM (HMR 995001)
Available free only with recording of the opera directed by René Jacobs: HARMONIA MUNDI HMC 951663.65
Click here for reviewNot available separately (which is actually quite a pity).
Director: Christian Girardin. Text & analyses: Florence Badol-Bertrand.
Realisation & development: LORCOM Multimedia. Made with Macromedia.by Chia Han-Leon
The truth is, I have found most CDROM introductions, "interactive" or otherwise, to be far from adequate in quality. Sometimes, it is a case of failure to fully exploit the potential of this medium. More often than not, like EMI's outrageously shameful "[Composer] for Dummies" CDROMs, it is just a case of trying to pass off simple images and text otherwise available in a book as an "interactive" CDROM.
When I bought this set of Così, the CDROM was very much a welcome bonus - but I mainly wanted the music. My only clue at the store as to the quality of the CDROM was the extremely high production value evident from the drop-dead gorgeous packaging. While writing the Inktro and recording review, this CDROM turned out to be a treasure trove. Truly, Harmonia Mundi have totally outdone themselves this time.
Most interactive CDROM introductions have a glossary of terms, existing in a central index and as hyperlinks in various articles as and when the defined term appears. Here this obligatory device is handled with simplicity and finesse. Click on a hyperlinked word and a floating window in the form of a scroll appears - you can move this around very easily. After having read through several of these definition windows, I realised that even the language has been carefully selected to give concise, easy-to-understand but very informative definitions.
Cross-referencing is one of the greatest tools of the CDROM, and is extremely impressively executed on this CDROM. Examples include those between pieces of music within the opera, or the linked explanations of the quotation of the "Così" theme in the Overture and Don Alfonso's "Così" aria. Everything is spiced and interspersed with snippets of relevant information on Mozart, eg. his use of clarinets in the opera and his famous clarinet concerto, the relationship between the other operas and Così fan tutte (Cosi is in fact a sort of spin-off byproduct of the success of The Marriage of Figaro) and more.
And speaking of the composer, the CDROM also houses an extensive introduction to the composer. There is a section with a time-line of his life arranged in a spiral following the shape of the Harmonia Mundi logo. Each of the 36 pages indexed here can be clicked to access information on each year of Mozart's life. Relevant images are provided, as are historical references. Examples of the music he composed during his life, some with audio examples, are available from the relevant pages or from the main index. That's not all: there is a picture of a globe here where each major place Mozart went to can be clicked. Click on one and the spiral will light up the appropriate segments in his life when Mozart was at that place.
In the synoptic overview provided, the CDROM uses a "map" to quickly pinpoint and cross-refer between vocal numbers, specific instruments, home key, character involvement and so on. If you click on the numbers on the maps corresponding to the particular vocal number, the CDROM highlights what key it is in, gives you the time signature, tempo marking and form of the number (aria, terzetto, cavatina, etc.). In addition, it will light up the instruments involved in the orchestra map and at the bottom of the screen, the appropriate characters singing the role. On top of this, the CDROM plays the appropriate track from the recording to boot! Quite a study aid!
I learnt many interesting things about the opera here, from the trivial to relevatory, eg. sources of music from other pieces Mozart composed. In the section "The Birth of Così", using full graphical interfaces, the subjects of political, dramatic and esthetic contexts, Mozart's sources, the premiere and reception of the opera are discussed. There is even a section detailing the 19th century criticism against the opera. Let me explain how smart this CDROM can be: in the topic of the libretto's sources, a voiceover reads Mozart's letter to his father regarding the nature of the vocal roles which was to influence the composition of Così. Immediately after the reading is done, a line appears next to the letter saying that this (explanation) was the point of departure for Jacobs - hence linking to the recording.
Arguably the most impressive section of the CDROM is "The Heart of the Work". Here, each scene is explained in narrative, plus a theatrical interpretation of the scene's importance relative to the entire drama, accompanied by the famous Lotte Reiniger "shadow play" cutouts. Each number in the opera occupies full independent pages exploring each piece in different perspectives, from an exploration of the historical sources to explanations of special technicalities in the music. An interpretation of an aria or the text may be offered and throughout, carefully selected musical examples - both full audio and excerpts from the score follow you as you read.
There is of course a libretto in Italian and English which you can follow as you listen to the opera. But there appears to be one major design flaw here - the "pages" of the libretto don't automatically turn when the audio playback passes through a particular page. So although the music has progressed, we're stuck behind. And to turn the page one has to click on the track, which unfortunately stops the music. If possible, it would be better to have the opera recording run with the libretto. But perhaps the designers found this difficult.
Perfomers. At first, I thought it would just be a relatively simple exploration of the role, the character, and maybe some performance history but no - Harmonia Mundi even provides us with the technical characteristics of the role including the range and a very educational discussion on the stylistics of the vocal part. For example, it was through this that I learnt that the role of the notary, sung by Despina, is to be sung through the nose (and that the first Despina was a specialist in this!). For each character, a table compiling each of the major numbers for the character is provided.
Not only is the ENTIRE soundtrack of Così fan tutte reproduced on the single CDROM, but many more pieces of music by the composer. (The CDROM uses a lower-quality method of storing the music compared to the audio CDs, thus the opera can fit on a single disc; however for the practical purpose of this interactive journey, the difference is insignificant).
So when you buy this set, you're actually buying two sets of Così fan tutte - and more! What a deal!
This CDROM is available exclusively with the Harmonia Mundi/Jacobs recording of the opera. Click here for more details.
Chia Han-Leon confesses to knowing much less about the opera before embarking on these reviews. Hey, that's what research is for, no?
Back to the Classical Index!... or read previous Mozart features at the InkpotOther classical music reviews by this or any other writer can be obtained from the InkVault by doing a key word search with the writer's name.
419: 11.3.1999 ©Chia Han-Leon
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