Washington Post - Somewhat Recommended
"... Obviously, those who enjoyed Saturday’s performance will find this assessment unfairly cruel about an evening that gave pleasure. But there is so much more pleasure, and charm, and delight to be had from “Cosi.” A taste of all its merits came from William Shimell, who was absolutely perfect as Don Alfonso: deeply musical, vocally sound, utterly convincing onstage, and delivering exactly the kind of fresh, natural, funny performance Miller said that he wanted. His performance showed just how right this approach can be — and what a shame it was that, though it may have amused some of its hearers, it wasn’t realized better."
Baltimore Sun - Recommended
"... WNO music director Philippe Auguin masterfully guides the score with tempos that feel right, phrase-molding that feels real. The conductor ensures that the music sings as effectively in the pit as it does onstage."
MetroWeekly - Recommended
"... And with director Jonathan Miller's Cosi, re-set to "yesterday afternoon in Washington, D.C.," with all that entails (cell-phones and suits, if not politics), the Washington National Opera delivers just that. Of course, it won't sit well with those who froth at the mouth at the mere mention of an adapted libretto, but for most it's a good whacking dose of Mozart delivered under the careful baton of Philippe Auguin, in the guise of a fun, mildly irreverent, entertainment. And it's hard to argue with that."
Washington City Paper - Somewhat Recommended
"... Così is Miller’s debut with the Washington National Opera and, true to the original, it’s funny in a kind of uncomfortably sadistic way. But aside from a couple jokes at the expense of our neighbors in Baltimore, this staging—originally performed and set in London, and later Seattle—feels neither uniquely local nor particularly modern. The latter discrepancy is clear halfway through Act 1 with the appearance of two hippie biker dudes, the likes of which haven’t been seen since Altamont 1969. Beatles and AC/DC lyrics and references to “jive” straight out of Airplane! only add to the anachronisms."
Washington Times - Recommended
"... For what seems like the umpty-umpth time, the Washington National Opera (WNO) opened another production of Mozart’s comic opera, Così fan tutte (roughly, They All Do It), Saturday evening at the Kennedy Center. That said, the company genuinely surprised and delighted its opening night audience with a snappy, well sung, up-to-the-minute DC-centric update of this beloved old operatic chestnut, courtesy of UK designer-director Jonathan Miller."
Washingtonian - Somewhat Recommended
"... Of Mozart’s great operas (and of the three written in collaboration with librettist Lorenzo da Ponte), Così fan tutte presents the most difficulties, I think, for a contemporary audience. The problem rests not with Mozart’s sublime music, but with da Ponte’s text, which spins a tale of mistaken identities and fiancée-swapping, the kind of comic farce we know from Shakespeare or Boccaccio—only far more disturbing."
The Georgetowner - Recommended
"... The Washington National Opera production, now at the Kennedy Center’s Opera House, directed by Jonathan Miller, is richly entertaining and rewarding, but also as unpredictable as romance itself."
MD Theatre Guide - Somewhat Recommended
"... Mozart’s Così fan tutte is a delicate work, finely balancing a cynical and psychologically disturbing libretto with some of the composer’s most lyrical and beguiling music. Yet Jonathan Miller’s misguided and gimmicky modern-dress production at the Washington National Opera forsakes complexity in favor of a kind of smug cleverness, offering a sniggering and sardonic take on the opera with little finesse or genuine insight."
DCTheatreScene - Highly Recommended
In this work, Miller's brilliance lies in the fact that his concept is totally thought through, so much so that the whole story, taking place “yesterday afternoon in Washington,” never gets strained but keeps reinventing itself for three hours.
