Abstract
Cavell writes about opera as a medium in which the sceptical threat to the meaning of what we say is rescued by music. Curiously, despite passing references to Don Giovanni and Le nozze di Figaro, Cosi fan tutte escaped his direct attention. Yet of all the three Mozart/Da Ponte collaborations, it is Cosi which most intricately examines Cavellian themes of scepticism, sincerity and alienation as well as, notoriously, deploying incongruities between voice, action and music in pursuit of its ethical purpose. Moreover, the opera features a philosopher in active pursuit of a project to “epistemologize” human relationships and, in more recent years, has attracted direct philosophical inquiry. In this essay, I argue that Cosi fan tutte is the most Cavellian of operas and a fitting arena in which to test Cavell’s thought against rival accounts of his central themes.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Inter alia Cohen, Die Dramatische Idee in Mozarts Operntexten. Kivy, Osmin’s Rage. Žižek and Dolar, Opera’s Second Death. Williams, On Opera, chap. 5.The closest to Cavellian themes and an inspiration for this essay, though with no reference to Cavell, is Burnham, ‘Mozart’s felix Culpa’.
- 2.
Largely, Cavell, The Claim of Reason: Wittgenstein, Skepticism, Morality, and Tragedy. and Cavell, Must We Mean What We Say?
- 3.
Largely, Cavell, A Pitch of Philosophy. Cavell, ‘Opera in (and as) Film” (2005)’.
- 4.
Leudar and Costall, Against Theory of Mind.
- 5.
“A standard by which to judge something; a feature of a thing by which it can be judged to be thus and so. In the writings of the later Wittgenstein it is used as a quasi-technical term. Typically, something counts as a criterion for another thing if it is necessarily good evidence for it. Unlike inductive evidence, criterial support is determined by convention and is partly constitutive of the meaning of the expression for whose application it is a criterion. Unlike entailment, criterial support is characteristically defeasible. Wittgenstein argued that behavioural expressions of the ‘inner’, e.g. groaning or crying out in pain, are neither inductive evidence for the mental (Cartesianism), nor do they entail the instantiation of the relevant mental term (behaviourism), but are defeasible criteria for its application.” P.M.S. Hacker in Honderich, The Oxford Companion to Philosophy.
- 6.
Cavell, A Pitch of Philosophy, p. 136.
- 7.
Ibid., p. 307.
- 8.
Ibid., p. 141.
- 9.
Wittgenstein, Wiener Ausgabe Studien Texte: Band 1: Philosophische Bemerkungen, pp. 17–18. Translation by Richard T. Eldridge (kindly offered in correspondence).
- 10.
Including the horns in the recapitulation in Fiordiligi’s second-act aria, Per pietà (No. 25 Rondo) which, even as we, the audience, are moved by the beauty of this piece, seem gently to mock us as much as they do Fiordiligi.
- 11.
Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations: The German Text, with a Revised English Translation 50th Anniversary Commemorative Edition, sec. 245.
- 12.
Ibid., sec. 527.
- 13.
Ibid., p. 178.
- 14.
Ibid., pts. II, iv.
- 15.
Cavell, A Pitch of Philosophy, p. viii.
- 16.
Ibid., p. 136.
- 17.
For a sensitive account, see Hagberg, Wittgenstein and Autobiographical Consciousness, pp. 95–97.
- 18.
Cavell, A Pitch of Philosophy, p. 153.
- 19.
Ibid., p. 149.
- 20.
Ibid., p. 138.
- 21.
Clement, Opera, Or, The Undoing of Women.
- 22.
Kettle, ‘Why Do Women Die in Opera?’
- 23.
Cavell, A Pitch of Philosophy, p. 146.
- 24.
Williams, On Opera, p. 45.
- 25.
The reader unfamiliar with the opera is recommended the video recording of the 2006 production for Glyndebourne featuring Topi Lehtipuu, Anke Vondung, Miah Persson and Luca Pisaroni conducted by Iván Fischer: Hytner, Mozart.
- 26.
In an implied critique of Da Ponte’s libretto, Wagner laments “if only [Mozart] has met the Poet whom he only would have had to help” Wagner, Opera and Drama, p. 37.
- 27.
Barry, The Philosopher’s Stone, p. 92.
- 28.
Žižek and Dolar, Opera’s Second Death, n. 68.
- 29.
No. 28: Finale.
- 30.
Steptoe, ‘The Sources of “Così Fan Tutte”’.
- 31.
Gombrich, ‘Così Fan Tutte (Procris Included)’.
- 32.
Hensher, ‘School for Lovers’.
- 33.
Kerman, Opera as Drama, New and Revised Edition, p. 98.
- 34.
Zalman, ‘Critical Perspectives’.
- 35.
Ford, Così?
- 36.
Zalman, ‘Critical Perspectives’.
- 37.
Clement, Opera, Or, The Undoing of Women.
- 38.
Cavell, A Pitch of Philosophy, p. 132.
- 39.
Ibid., p. 146.
- 40.
‘Operabase’.
- 41.
Žižek observes: “The notorious production of Così by Peter Sellars took the bond between the maid and the philosopher as the guiding line, the assumption being that the real drama takes place there, buttressed by erotic and traumatic undertones. The crucial moment for their relationship is the subtle quartet 2.22 (‘La mano a me datem’) where Don Alfonso acts as a spokesman for the two men, while Despina speaks for the two women. They both act as interpreters of the desire of the Other and thus enter an ambiguous play of mediation. After the establishment of contact between the two couples, they quickly vanish, but what about their own desires? Is there such a thing as neutral mediation? What do vanishing mediators do after they vanish?” Žižek and Dolar, Opera’s Second Death, n. 62. Sellars’s production notes are discussed in Said, ‘Peter Sellars’s Mozart’.
- 42.
Molleson, ‘Così Fan Tutte Review—Mozart’s Frothy Opera Turns Nasty’.
- 43.
Jochnowitz, ‘Reconsidering Così Fan Tutte’.
- 44.
In Don Giovanni and Cosi fan tutte, the end has often been seen as the problem. However, if there is a problem, in each case, that cannot be the full extent of it—it must reach back into understanding the work as a whole. Williams, On Opera, p. 21.
- 45.
Ford, Così?, p. 29.
- 46.
Ibid., p. 176.
- 47.
Cavell, The Claim of Reason: Wittgenstein, Skepticism, Morality, and Tragedy, p. 90.
- 48.
Ibid., p. 431.
- 49.
All translations from the libretto are taken from ‘Così Fan Tutte—Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart—Libretto in Italian with Translation in English—OperaFolio.Com’.
- 50.
Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations: The German Text, with a Revised English Translation 50th Anniversary Commemorative Edition, sec. 546.
- 51.
Jochnowitz, ‘Reconsidering Così Fan Tutte.’ in Jochnowitz, The Blessed Human Race.
- 52.
Ford, Music, Sexuality and the Enlightenment in Mozart’s Figaro, Don Giovanni and Così Fan Tutte, chap. 4.
- 53.
Žižek, The Metastases of Enjoyment, p. 125.
- 54.
Wittgenstein, Remarks on the Foundations of Mathematics, Revised Edition, p. 325.
- 55.
Cavell, A Pitch of Philosophy, p. 155.
- 56.
Cavell, p. 154.
- 57.
Burnham, ‘Mozart’s felix Culpa’, n. 35.
- 58.
Ibid., p. 84.
- 59.
Brown-Montesano, Understanding the Women of Mozart’s Operas, p. 222.
- 60.
Ford, Così?, p. 176.
- 61.
My thanks to Dr. Naomi Barker for assistance with this account.
- 62.
Williams, On Opera, p. 45.
- 63.
Burnham, ‘Mozart’s felix Culpa’, p. 85.
- 64.
Ibid., p. 92.
- 65.
Cavell, Must We Mean What We Say?, pp. 332–33.
- 66.
For a discussion, see Mulhall, Stanley Cavell, pp. 198–200.
- 67.
Cavell, A Pitch of Philosophy, p. 141.
- 68.
Burnham, ‘Mozart’s felix Culpa’, p. 93.
- 69.
Ibid., pp. 91–92.
- 70.
My thanks to members of the Heaton Opera group for convivial conversation on this and many other operas.
References
Barry, Barbara R. 2000. The Philosopher’s Stone: Essays in the Transformation of Musical Structure. Pendragon Press.
Brown-Montesano, Kristi. 2007. Understanding the Women of Mozart’s Operas. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Burnham, Scott. 1994. Mozart’s “Felix Culpa: Così Fan Tutte” and the Irony of Beauty. The Musical Quarterly 78 (1): 77–98.
Cavell, Stanley. 1996. A Pitch of Philosophy. Harvard University Press.
———. 1999. The Claim of Reason: Wittgenstein, Skepticism, Morality, and Tragedy. Oxford University Press.
———. 2002. Must We Mean What We Say?: A Book of Essays. Cambridge University Press.
———. 2005. “Opera in (and as) Film” (2005). In Cavell on Film, ed. William Rothman. SUNY Series, Horizons of Cinema.
Clement, Catherine. 1999. Opera, Or, The Undoing of Women. University of Minnesota Press.
Cohen, Hermann. 1915. Die Dramatische Idee in Mozarts Operntexten. http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/lookupid?key=ha006675114.
Così Fan Tutte—Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart—Libretto in Italian with Translation in English—OperaFolio.Com. Accessed 4 March 2018. http://www.operafolio.com/libretto.asp?n=Cosi_fan_tutte&print=y&translation=UK.
Ford, Charles. 1991. Così?: Sexual Politics in Mozart’s Operas. Manchester University Press.
———. 2016. Music, Sexuality and the Enlightenment in Mozart’s Figaro, Don Giovanni and Così Fan Tutte. Routledge.
Gombrich, E.H. 1954. Così Fan Tutte (Procris Included). Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes 17 (3/4): 372–374.
Hagberg, Garry L. 2006. Describing Ourselves: Wittgenstein and Autobiographical Consciousness. Oxford University Press.
Hensher, Philip. 2009. School for Lovers. The Guardian, May 23, sec. Music. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2009/may/23/mozart-da-ponte-cosi-fan-tutte.
Honderich, Ted. 2005. The Oxford Companion to Philosophy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Hytner, Nicholas. 2007. Mozart: Cosi Fan Tutte. Opus Arte.
Jochnowitz, George. 2018. Reconsidering Così Fan Tutte. Accessed 17 February 2018. https://www.jochnowitz.net/Essays/ReconsideringCosiFanTutte.html.
———. 2007. The Blessed Human Race: Essays on Reconsideration. Hamilton Books.
Kerman, Joseph. 1988. Opera as Drama, New and Revised Edition. University of California Press.
Kettle, Martin. 2018. Why Do Women Die in Opera?, Music Feature—BBC Radio 3. BBC. Accessed 17 February 2018. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00sw2p7.
Kivy, Peter. 1988. Osmin’s Rage: Philosophical Reflections on Opera, Drama, and Text. Princeton University Press.
Leudar, I., and A. Costall, eds. 2009. Against Theory of Mind. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Molleson, Kate. 2016. Così Fan Tutte Review—Mozart’s Frothy Opera Turns Nasty. The Guardian, August 26. http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2016/aug/26/cosi-fan-tutte-review-edinburgh-festival-theatre-mozart-cape-town-opera.
Mulhall, Stephen. 1994. Stanley Cavell: Philosophy’s Recounting of the Ordinary. Clarendon Press.
Operabase. Accessed 17 February 2018. http://operabase.com/oplist.cgi?id=none&lang=en&is=cosi+fan+tutte&by=&loc=&stype=abs&sd=17&sm=2&sy=2018&etype=abs&ed=&em=&ey=.
Said, Edward. 2008. Peter Sellars’s Mozart. In Music at the Limits, 87–90. Columbia University Press.
Steptoe, Andrew. 1981. The Sources of “Così Fan Tutte”: A Reappraisal. Music & Letters 62 (3/4): 281–294.
Wagner, Richard. 1900. Opera and Drama. University of Nebraska Press.
Williams, Bernard. 2006. On Opera. Yale University Press.
Wittgenstein, Ludwig. 1983. Remarks on the Foundations of Mathematics. Rev. ed. The MIT Press.
———. 1991. Philosophical Investigations: The German Text, with a revised English Translation 50th Anniversary Commemorative Edition. Wiley-Blackwell.
———. 1999. Wiener Ausgabe Studien Texte: Band 1: Philosophische Bemerkungen. Vienna: Springer-Verlag.
Zalman, Paige. 2016. Critical Perspectives: Women’s and Gender Studies. Così Fan Tutte in Context (blog), April 20. https://cosiincontext.wordpress.com/critical-perspectives-womens-and-gender-studies/.
Žižek, Slavoj. 2005. The Metastases of Enjoyment: Six Essays on Women and Causality. Verso.
Žižek, Slavoj, and Mladen Dolar. 2002. Opera’s Second Death. Psychology Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Ground, I. (2018). Must We Mean What We Sing?—Così Fan Tutte and the Lease of Voice. In: Hagberg, G. (eds) Stanley Cavell on Aesthetic Understanding. Philosophers in Depth. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97466-8_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97466-8_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-97465-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-97466-8
eBook Packages: Religion and PhilosophyPhilosophy and Religion (R0)