Pittsburgh Opera to host live, in-person audiences for 'Cosi fan tutte'

Mozart may not have envisioned singers wearing masks when he created “Cosi fan tutte,” but that’s the plan when the Pittsburgh Opera performs it in front of a live audience.

The opera, which revolves around the theme of fiancée swapping, is the opera’s opening production of its modified 2020-21 season. All six performances between Oct. 17 and Oct. 29 at its Strip District headquarters are sold out.

A number of spaces are available on a waiting list.

Audiences are limited to 50 people. Other protocols have been put in place, including requiring all of the performers to wear masks, even while singing. Stage director Crystal Manich said it would be impossible to stage the opera without requiring performers to wear masks.

“If we wanted to have a live audience, if we wanted to have a live orchestra, there was no other way to envision this project. It just wasn’t going to be possible so that was never a question,” said Manich.

One of the first opera companies in the US to return to indoor performance: ⁦@PittsburghOpera⁩ has announced details of its new Così fan tutte later this month. https://t.co/YDqQ0qmfXA pic.twitter.com/7CDrhsY8z0

— Opera magazine (@operamagazine) October 2, 2020

In order to make it seem like part of the production, Manich has set the story during the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic when universal mask-wearing applied.

“I wanted the masks to make sense in the world, and I didn’t want to do a contemporary production,” Manich said. “I think that audiences want to see period costumes, and they want to escape, and if we can escape, sort of, in a parallel world from a hundred years ago, in a comedy, I think it really can be revealing and exemplify things that we are experiencing now.”

In order to make it easier for the performers to sing with a mask, an innovative mask design with more breathability was created.

“There’s something like a cage made of plastic that is sewn into the mask so that it stays away from the mouth a bit. It still covers the nose and mouth, but it just provides a buffer between the lips and the fabric,” said Manich.

The cast is made up of the Pittsburgh Opera’s resident artists who quarantined for 14 days when they arrived in Pittsburgh last month.

Other protocols include reducing the orchestra to 17 players, which will allow for proper distancing between musicians. Audience members will undergo health screenings on arrival and will be required to wear a mask at all times while in the building.

The program has been compressed into 90 minutes, with no intermission to prevent patrons from interacting with each other during an intermission or waiting in line for the bathroom.

“Essentially this production is the guinea pig of the season,” said Manich. “We’re in a fantastic, opportunistic place where we can still provide entertainment to this community.”

The Oct. 23 performance at 7:30 p.m. will be livestreamed for free on Pittsburgh Opera’s YouTube channel and Facebook page. The performances of “Cosi fan tutte” will be sung in Italian, with English supertitles projected both above the stage and on-screen during the livestream.