Mozart and Da Ponte’s delicious 1790 Neapolitan comedy plays on modern ‘scientific’ fascinations with mesmerism and the exotic, characters drawn from the baroque opera buffa tradition and the volcanic rumblings of Vesuvius, all posing the question: is this love or just infatuation?

Cecilia Stinton’s new production of Così fan tutte sees a return to comedy from the director of last year’s highly praised production of Donizetti’s gothic tragedy, Lucia di Lammermoor, with designs again by Neil Irish and lighting by Robert Price. Former Opera Holland Park Young Artist and rising star in opera and on the concert platform Charlotte Corderoy (The Barber of Seville, 2024) conducts, with a cast led by Paul Carey Jones (The Flying Dutchman, 2025) and Elizabeth Karani (Acis and Galatea, 2024) as the scheming cynic Don Alfonso and his on/off accomplice Despina. 

They are joined by Paul Grant (Figaro in Stinton’s 2024 Barber) as the hot-headed young solider Guglielmo, and by Madeleine Boreham and Shakira Tsindos (Opera Holland Park Young Artists Hansel and Gretel, 2023) as sisters Fiordiligi and Dorabella, both of whom enjoy his attentions as the plot unfolds. Full casting, together with the casting for the 2026 Opera Holland Park Young Artists performances of Così fan tutte, will be announced in the coming months.