Così fan tutte is a fiendishly difficult opera to get right. Text is continually undercut by subtext and the veracity with which characters behave and emote is repeatedly called into question. Distinguishing feigned sincerity from genuine sincerity is no easy task. Intelligent directors are able to address these issues in staged realisations of the opera but it is rather more difficult to address them on a recording

This 3-disc set was originally released (on Philips) in 1990 and is mostly successful in negotiating the opera’s many challenges (challenges which, when tackled astutely, make this such an outstanding work). Marriner has assembled some impressive names (including José van Dam as Don Alfonso) and for the most part they live up to their reputations. The ensembles offer opportunities for some wonderful singing and compelling repartee. Karita Mattila and Anne Sofie von Otter are well-matched as sisters Fiordiligi and Dorabella but, surprisingly, Mattila is less impressive on her own and underwhelms in both of her set pieces, ‘Come scoglio’ and ‘Per pietà’.

Also surprising is the sometimes ragged playing of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and the occasionally sluggish accompanied recitatives. But all-in-all this re-release is to be applauded, especially since it forms part of Decca’s inexpensive Classic Opera Series and comes packaged with a full libretto.