"All women do it"

No, no, this is not the title of a work of pornographic nature (although let's face it: it could be), it is the title in English of Cosi fan tutte, which premiered 230 years ago today. I have grown quite fond of and fascinated with this opera over the years and thought it needed to be celebrated on Vraie Fiction. So "All women do it" is its title and also the moral of the story. As in "all women are unfaithful, if given the opportunity". Sexist, cynical? Absolutely, yet it is difficult to find flaws in Lorenzo da Ponte's libretto, or Mozart's music. As an external observer, one can easily see how love is fleeting, capricous and fickle. In the end, Cosi is cruel like comedies often are, but in all honesty you cannot fault the argument or the demonstration. Anyway, I have two videos for you, one which gives you a rundown of the plot with commentary, made by the people at Opera Cheats, and one duet from the opera itself, sung beautifully by Anke Vondung and Miah Persson, as Dorabella and Fiordiligi respectively.