Covid fan tutte

Covid fan tutte is a 2020 comic opera produced by the Finnish National Opera. It is a comedic adaptation of Mozart’s Così fan tutte, depicting life in the spring of 2020 as disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The idea for the opera was conceived by conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen and soprano Karita Mattila, after the pandemic caused the cancellation of Finnish National Opera’s planned production of Wagner’s Die Walküre. The completed opera premiered in Helsinki on 28 August 2020, directed by Jussi Nikkilä and conducted by Salonen, with a total of 12 performances through 23 October 2020, subtitled in English, Finnish, and Swedish. Set entirely to Mozart’s original score, Minna Lindgren’s newly written libretto replaces 18th-century romantic comedy with a satirical chronicle of pandemic-era Finland. The updated script chronicles the chaos of spring 2020 in Finland, touching on themes of lockdown, misinformation, medical absurdities, and public fear. At the centre of the narrative is a fictionalized version of soprano Karita Mattila, playing herself with metatheatrical humour. Her character, an internationally renowned diva, finds herself accidentally stuck in Finland due to COVID-related travel restrictions and accepts a lead role at the Finnish National Opera.

“I have an invention and I need a volunteer, I have only tested this on cows.”

“Listen, doctor, we’re famous opera stars. Not lab rats or guinea pigs. Great operatic vocalists.”

“Dear doctor, surely not?”

“Oh I’m dear, all right. A private consultation is expensive. Now give me your paw. I’ll inject you. It’ll only sting a little.”

(Extract | Covid fan tutte – Finnish National Opera 00:24–01:05)

Here, “Doctor” Despina (Karita Mattila) is ready to dish out her doses of her new coronavirus vaccine, but her opera star patients have their doubts. The exchange parodies the interactions between the public and medical or scientific experts during pandemic time. “I have only tested this on cows” evokes both absurdity and fear, mirroring real-world anxieties about hastily developed treatments and the public’s role as unwilling participants in an evolving health crisis. Moreover, from a staging perspective, Covid fan tutte naturally scales down due to the pandemic restrictions. There is an absence of a chorus and a reliance on a small orchestra. The opera engages directly with the civic experience of the Finnish public, allowing humor and irony to emerge without abandoning operatic formality, while succinctly capturing a disrupted society during a medical crisis.