Cosí Fan Tutte

Mozart's final Italian comedy is a work that poses more questions than it answers. When sisters Fiordiligi and Dorabella are tricked into swapping partners, does their willingness to junk previous commitments indicate their superficiality? Or have they merely abandoned conventional emotional modes imposed on them by upbringing? Does the fury of Ferrando and Guglielmo at their girlfriends' behaviour have deeper causes than self-regard? And what exactly does Don Alfonso gain from engineering this subterfuge, other than winning a wager? Like all good productions of Cosí, Nicholas Hytner's, first seen in 2006, leaves many things hanging in the air at the close; though it presents the final ensemble as a wasteland of emotional devastation, which is arguably less daring than the open-ended non-resolution of Mozart and Da Ponte's original, even with its philosophical moral tacked on. The cast is new apart from Anna Maria Panzarella's Despina, whose fazed despondency in the final minutes speaks volumes. Sally Matthews's earnest Fiordiligi and Barbara Senator's happy-go-lucky Dorabella meet all vocal challenges head on and respond to events with spontaneous vulnerability. His tone offering honey on the surface but steel at its centre, Allan Clayton's Ferrando reveals how uncertain the character is both of himself and his next move. Robert Gleadow's more macho Guglielmo careers around with huge sexual confidence but even less sense of direction. Both are easy prey for Pietro Spagnoli's watchful, inscrutable Alfonso. The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment's woodwind players slither around the overture's scales rather than articulating them firmly. Elsewhere, Charles Mackerras's conducting produces warm and vivid tones, though there's not always enough momentum. In rep until 17 July. Box office: 01273 813813.