Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart operas

• Die Entführung aus dem Serail (1782)
• Le nozze di Figaro (1786)
• Don Giovanni (1787)
• Così fan tutte, ossia La scuola degli amanti (1790)
• La clemenza di Tito (1791)
• The Magic Flute (1791)

“Così fan tutte, ossia La scuola degli amanti” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart ♡

Thus Do They All, or The School For Lovers

Premiere / date of written: 26 January 1790

Così fan tutte, ossia La scuola degli amanti (Thus Do They All, or The School For Lovers) K. 588, is an Italian language opera buffa in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart first performed in 1790. The libretto was written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Così fan tutte is one of the three Mozart operas for which Da Ponte wrote the libretto. The other two Da Ponte-Mozart collaborations were Le nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni.

Libretti

Italian–English side-by-side translation

#	Language	Authors
1	Italian	Lorenzo Da Ponte
2	German
3	English
4	French	B. Vierne

original libretto
side-by-side of the original libretto

Notes on the Libretto

Preparing the Italian and English texts of Così fan tutte side by side brought to light a number of small discrepancies whose importance is easily missed in a freer translation. One occurs in Don Alfonso’s “ove il destino, anzi il dover v’invita.” The correction anzi is essential to the joke: he begins grandly with “destiny,” then substitutes the more prosaic “duty.” Rendering both words as “fate” effaces Da Ponte’s deliberate turn of thought.

Elsewhere the difficulty lies in preserving the particular color of the language. Despina’s “un’ottava” is not merely “a rhyme,” but an eight-line stanza; “d’altra pasta”, literally “of different dough,” describes women imagined as being made of different stuff. Such expressions resist word-for-word translation without either obscuring their sense or losing their comic character.

Comparison also revealed several modest but telling textual problems in the Italian. “Settantamille baci” was corrected to the proper settantamila, while the anomalous “Pártiti!” was normalized to “Partiti!” More consequential was the reading “se costei non ci/li ravvisa,” evidently preserving two alternatives in a working text. In context, ci gives the coherent reading: Ferrando and Guglielmo wonder whether the disguised men will be recognized—“if she does not recognize us.”

History

1789 April 30 — The premiere of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera "Così fan tutte" took place at the Burgtheater in Vienna.
1790 January 26 — Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s opera "Così fan tutte" premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienna.
1811 May 9 — "Così fan tutte" received its first performance at the King's Theatre, Haymarket, London.
1922 March 24 — The U.S. premiere of Mozart’s "Così fan tutte" takes place at the Metropolitan Opera.

Images

Printed Editions

Year	Edition	Publisher	Buy
2025	Così fan tutte / The School for Lovers: Opera Libretto with Italian–English Translation	DM’s Opera Series

Audio recordings

Year	Cast	Conductor, Opera chorus and orchestra	Label, Comment	Buy
1962	Fiordiligi — Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Dorabella — Christa Ludwig, Despina — Hanny Steffek, Ferrando — Alfredo Kraus, Guglielmo — Giuseppe Taddei, Alfonso — Walter Berry	Karl Böhm Philharmonia Orchestra and Chorus	CD: EMI Classics (re-issued 2000)	$34.81
1973	Fiordiligi — Pilar Lorengar, Dorabella — Teresa Berganza, Despina — Jane Berbié, Ferrando — Ryland Davies, Guglielmo — Tom Krause, Alfonso — Gabriel Bacquier	Sir Georg Solti London Philharmonic Orchestra Chorus of the Royal Opera House	CD: Decca	$43.97
1974	Fiordiligi — Montserrat Caballé, Dorabella — Janet Baker, Despina — Ileana CotrubaÈ™, Ferrando — Nicolai Gedda, Guglielmo — Wladimiro Ganzarolli, Alfonso — Richard Van Allan	Sir Colin Davis Chorus and Orchestra of the Royal Opera House	CD: Philips	$13.06

Books

Year	Title	Description	Buy
2025	Così fan tutte / The School for Lovers: Opera Libretto with Italian–English Translation	This edition of Così fan tutte (The School for Lovers) presents the complete Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, set to music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The text appears in a side-by-side Italian–English format, ideal for students, performers, and opera lovers. Enjoy this classic opera with the original Italian next to a clear and faithful English translation that preserves the wit and elegance of Da Ponte’s text	$13.99

Video recordings

Year	Cast	Conductor, Opera chorus and orchestra, Director	Label, Comment	Buy
2006	Fiordiligi — Miah Persson, Dorabella — Anke Vondung, Despina — Ainhoa Garmendia, Ferrando — Topi Lehtipuu, Guglielmo — Luca Pisaroni, Alfonso — Nicolas Rivenq	Iván Fischer Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, The Glyndebourne Chorus, London Sir Nicholas Hytner	DVD: Opus Arte Cat: OA 0970 D OCLC 137342087	$56.30