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THE exceptionally couth delights of Mozart's "Cosi fan tutte" are handsomely highlighted by New York City Opera's spiffy new production.
The special pleasure of this "Cosi fan tutte"' ("So Do They All") is the return, after a strange 25-year absence, of 85-year-old conductor Julius Rudel, for many years City Opera's music director and guiding spirit.
The almost architectural symmetry of "Cosi" shows two pairs of lovers duped into a near-adventure of lover-swapping. Along the way, it embraces music of spun-gold delicacy, making it one of opera's gems.
It was a delicacy that Rudel made into magic, vastly helped by one of those special casts of brilliant young American singers that characterize City Opera at its best.
In fairness, let's cite them all: Julianna Di Giacomo, Ryan MacPherson, Kyle Pfortmiller and Sandra Piques Eddy as those mixed-doubles of naive lovers, Maureen McKay as the wily maid and James Maddalena as the older friend whose cynicism rotates the plot.
British director Tim Albery, making his City Opera debut, staged it with unfussy grace, although why he had designer Tobias Hoheisel set the opera in what was apparently the cramped innards of an antique camera - a snapshot of society perhaps? - must be anyone's crazy guess.
Along with bright young singers standing in the doorway of their careers, veteran maestro Rudel succeeds in making Mozart live.
COSI FAN TUTTENew York City Opera, Lincoln Center; (212) 721-6500. Performances through Nov. 17.
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