Così fan tutte centers on a brotherly wager that tests the loyalty of two couples who had sworn eternal faithfulness.
• This sophisticated comedy, with extremely dark undercurrents, contains some of Mozart’s loveliest arias and the largest number of ensembles of any of his operas.
• Nikolaus Harnoncourt leads Edita Gruberova and the Vienna Philharmonic in Jean-Pierre Ponnelle’s 1988 staging of Mozart’s most controversial work.
• This spectacular new addition includes a bonus documentary about Jean-Pierre Ponnelle and the making of this now-historic production.

Mozart’s darkest operatic masterpiece with a superb cast featuring Renée Fleming and Bryn Terfel, masterfully conducted by James Levine with Franco Zeffirelli’s beautiful staging.
“A very special night at the opera . . . the kind of true theatre that opera in general … does not often approach. “ The New York Times, 2000
Bryn Terfel, giving his first Don Giovanni at the MET, received rave reviews for both his singing and his dramatic performance – as the Los Angeles Times puts it: “Terfel is exquisite as the Don, raping and pillaging his way through Europe: His voice, diction and acting are perhaps the best in the role since Cesare Siepi.”
Renée Fleming proves to be the perfect match to Terfel with her telling characterization of Donna Anna – the Boston Herald wrote: “Thank heaven for Fleming . . . she easily walks away with the evening. She looks great, sounds greater and delivers the greatest ‘Non mi dir’ . . . in memory, filling it with all the pain of unfulfilled and conflicted passion that’s just below the music’s surface.”
Zeffirelli’s production from 1990 has an unashamed theatricality, with painted skyscapes, outsize columns and a glimpse of hell at the end straight from the world of 18th-century theatre – the staging was partially renewed to open the 2000 season
Features include
• Superb picture quality
• Improved audio quality and two surround sound options
• PCM Stereo / Dolby Digital 5.1 / DTS 5.1
• Additional content and bonus material: picture gallery, DVD trailer, DVD catalogue section and web link
• Subtitles in German, English, French, Spanish and Chinese

* Filmed on location in 1981 in Italian Renaissance landmarks including the Castello di San Giorgio in Mantua, the Piazza Duomo in Cremona, and the Teatro Farnese in Parma, Jean-Pierre Ponnelle’s authentic rendering captures all the tenderness and tragedy of Verdi’s heart-breaking drama.
* Riccardo Chailly conducts the Wiener Philharmoniker and a stellar cast featuring Luciano Pavarotti, Edita Gruberova and Ingvar Wixell.
* Luciano Pavarotti sings the role of the Duke of Mantua, a part in which he is unsurpassed; Edita Gruberova, internationally acclaimed as one of the greatest coloratura sopranos of our time, sings the role of Gilda; and Ingvar Wixell, a superlative baritone, sings a captivating Rigoletto.