The opera Cosi Fan Tutte (A Woman's Heart or They All Do It in English) staged by Piccolo Teatro of Milan Theater of Europe will be shown at Beijing's Poly Theatre on Sunday and Monday.

The opera has been performed in many countries around the world and has earned the moniker of "the most beautiful version of Cosi Fan Tutte."

The director stresses the opera aims to show a true image of life, differing from other jocular versions of the opera.

For example, the two officials usually look and act funny when they pretend to be Turks to seduce the two heroines. However, in this version, the officials wear glamorous clothes to illustrate Mozart's sharp discernment and the protagonist's inner mood to make it more real.

Mozart's final comic opera, Cosi Fan Tutte, a humorous take at the twists and turns of romantic love, was originally attacked for portraying faithless women.

The story begins in a Neapolitan café where two young men, Ferrando and Guglielmo, argue with the older and more skeptical Don Alfonso that their fiancées, the sisters Fiordiligi and Dorabella, would never betray them. Aided by Despina, the sisters' maid, the men hatch a plot to test the women's loyalty. They disguise themselves as soldiers and woo each other's lovers, managing through various tricks to win over the initially reluctant women. As deeper feelings surface, however, the suitors become uneasy with their antics, and once the deception is unmasked, the four reunite, though who pairs up with whom remains a mystery.

The opera Cosi Fan Tutte by Piccolo Teatro of Milan Theatre of Europe was produced in 1997. The theater company comes to Beijing at the invitation of the Beijing Music Festival. It's also one of the most important events of the Year of Italy in China this year.

(CRIENGLISH.com October 8, 2006)