Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s opera Cosi Fan Tutte (All women behave that way) was first performed in 1790, the year after the French Revolution.
Don Alfonso, a misogynistic old cynic, tells his two friends that women are not to be trusted – including their fiancees, Fiordiligi and Dorabella.
He offers a wager and they accept his challenge.
Don Alfonso tells the women that their fiances have been called away on military service.
It is a test of the women’s fidelity, since the men reappear in disguise and proceed to woo them.
Iranian film-maker Abbas Kiarostami uses filmed backdrops of Naples.
There are good singing performances all-round, especially from Susan Gritton as Fiordiligi.
Cosi Fan Tutte
Directed by Abbas Kiarostami and Elaine Tyler-Hall
English National Opera, central London, until 5 July
A film that deserves its acclaim
The greater terror was internment
A story of excitement and fear
