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CHICAGO (11/19/2025) — Lyric Opera of Chicago presents Mozart’s beloved masterpiece Così fan tutte, on stage February 1–15, 2026. This glamorous rom-com returns to Lyric in a sun-soaked 1930s-era seaside country club setting, where two officers — convinced all women are fickle in love — hatch a plan to switch places and woo each other’s fiancées in disguise. Hilarity, dazzling arias, and some of Mozart’s most glorious ensemble writing ensue in this sophisticated exploration of love’s fragility and the games we play with each other’s hearts.
Music Director Enrique Mazzola conducts this sparkling production, leading the Lyric Opera Orchestra through Mozart’s multifaceted score. The stellar ensemble features a fresh cast of rising international stars as the four young lovers: Jacquelyn Stucker as Fiordiligi, Cecilia Molinari as Dorabella, Anthony León as Ferrando, and Ian Rucker as Guglielmo. They are joined by longtime Lyric favorites Ana María Martínez as the cunning maid Despina and Rod Gilfry as the philosophical Don Alfonso.
When love becomes a laboratory experiment. Based on Lorenzo Da Ponte’s wickedly clever libretto, Così fan tutte — or “Thus Do They All” — is Mozart’s most psychologically complex comedy. The cynical philosopher Don Alfonso wagers that no woman can remain faithful when tempted, and he enlists the help of the worldly maid Despina to prove his point. Two young officers, Ferrando and Guglielmo, are so confident in their sweethearts’ devotion that they accept the bet, agreeing to disguise themselves and attempt a seduction of the other’s fiancée. What begins as an amusing game spirals into genuine confusion when the sisters begin to respond to their exotic new suitors, throwing all four lovers into emotional chaos. Mozart’s music captures every shift in feeling — from playful teasing to heartfelt longing to aching uncertainty — in some of the most sublime arias, duets, and ensembles ever written. Set against frothy costumes and splashy sets that belie an undercurrent of genuine emotional stakes, this production shows that some questions about love have no easy answers, and that opera at its finest can illuminate the complexities of human relationships with unparalleled beauty and insight.
Rising stars command some of Mozart’s greatest roles. American soprano Jacquelyn Stucker makes her highly anticipated Lyric debut as Fiordiligi, the more steadfast of the two sisters. Hailed as one of today’s most exciting singing actresses, Stucker is a fast-rising star who graduated from the prestigious Jette Parker Young Artist Programme at London’s Royal Ballet and Opera. Her rapturously acclaimed debut in the title role of Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea at the 2022 Aix-en-Provence Festival firmly established her reputation on the international stage. Stucker has since made her Metropolitan Opera debut as the Countess in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, sang the demanding title role in Thomas Adès’s The Exterminating Angel at Opéra national de Paris, and made her role debut as the Governess in Britten’s The Turn of the Screw at Santa Fe Opera.
Italian mezzo-soprano Cecilia Molinari makes her United States and Lyric debuts as Dorabella, Fiordiligi’s more impulsive sister. Molinari is especially known for her interpretation of Mozart, Rossini, and baroque roles. A trained physician as well as an opera singer, Molinari has established herself at major international houses including Teatro alla Scala, Vienna State Opera, Semperoper Dresden, and the Salzburg Festival. The winner of the International Bel Canto Prize at the Rossini in Wildbad Festival, she makes several important debuts this season, including at Opéra national de Paris in the title role of Handel’s Ariodante; at Teatro La Fenice in Venice, where she returns for her debut as Sesto in Mozart’s La clemenza di Tito; and to Dutch National Opera, for Cherubina (a female version of Cherubino) in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, in a production directed by Kirill Serebrennikov.
American-born Cuban and Colombian tenor Anthony León makes his Lyric debut as Ferrando, the ardent young officer whose love is sorely tested. One of the most celebrated rising stars in opera, León is the winner of First Prize and the Zarzuela Prize at Operalia 2022 and a winner of the 2023 Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition. He was also a finalist for the Rising Star Award at the 2024 International Opera Awards and a winner of the 2024 Richard Tucker Career Grant. A former member of the Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program at LA Opera, León opened its 2023/24 season with his role debut as Don Ottavio in Mozart’s Don Giovanni. His recent engagements include performances with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the Ravinia Festival and the LA Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl under Gustavo Dudamel.
American baritone Ian Rucker sings Guglielmo, Ferrando’s more exuberant comrade-in-arms. A recent graduate of Lyric’s renowned artist-development program — The Patrick G. and Shirley W. Ryan Opera Center — where he completed three seasons of intensive training, Rucker appeared at Lyric earlier this season as a soloist in Orff’s Carmina Burana and has starred as Schaunard in Puccini’s La Bohème (2024/25), Man in Bar in Terence Blanchard and Michael Cristofer’s Champion (2023/24), and Moralès in Bizet’s Carmen (2022/23). He also jumped in for performances of the Foreman in Janáček’s Jenůfa (2023/24) and Raimbaud in Rossini’s Le Comte Ory (2022/23). A native of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, he was a prize winner in the finals of the prestigious Neue Stimmen competition in 2024 and received global acclaim in the title role of the world premiere of Oliver Leith and Ted Huffman’s The Story of Billy Budd, Sailor, an adaptation of Benjamin Britten's opera, at the 2025 Aix-en-Provence Festival.
Lyric favorites bring wisdom and wit to the scheming duo.Grammy Award-winning soprano Ana María Martínez returns to Lyric as the scheming Despina. Born in Puerto Rico to a Puerto Rican mother and a Cuban father, she is one of the foremost sopranos of her generation and has been beloved by Lyric audiences for more than 15 years of unforgettable performances. Her Lyric roles include Florencia in Daniel Catán's Florencia en el Amazonas (2021/22), the title role in Puccini’s Madama Butterfly (2019/20), Fiordiligi in Lyric’s most recent production of Così fan tutte (2017/18), Marguerite in Gounod’s Faust (2017/18, 2009/10), Mimì in Puccini’s La Bohème (2012/13), Tatyana in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin (2015/16), Donna Elvira in Mozart’s Don Giovanni (2014/15), the title role in the company premiere of Dvořák’s Rusalka (2013/14), Desdemona in Verdi’s Otello (2013/14), and Nedda in Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci (2008/09), her Lyric debut. Later this season, she will appear as Catrina in the Lyric premiere of Gabriela Lena Frank and Nilo Cruz’s El último sueño de Frida y Diego. Off the stage, she serves as Artistic Advisor at Houston Grand Opera and is a Professor at Rice University's Shepherd School of Music.
One of America’s most distinguished baritones, two-time Grammy nominee Rod Gilfry returns to Lyric as the philosophical Don Alfonso. He made his Lyric debut as Figaro in Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia in the 1994/95 Season; he appeared as Olivier in Strauss’s Capriccio later that same season, then returned as Marcello in Puccini’s La Bohème in the 2001/02 Season. A Mozart specialist, Gilfry brings decades of experience to the role of Don Alfonso, with a 75-role repertoire that includes acclaimed Mozart performances as Don Giovanni, Count Almaviva, Guglielmo, and Papageno at the world’s leading opera houses. In addition to his operatic work, Gilfry appears frequently in musical theater and cabaret, and he recently toured Kevin Puts’s The Brightness of Light with soprano Renée Fleming to major venues throughout North America, including a performance at Lyric conducted by Maestro Mazzola in the 2022/23 Season.
Chicago’s maestro brings Mozart to life. Lyric Music Director Enrique Mazzola takes the podium for this production, bringing his signature blend of elegance and vitality to Mozart’s sophisticated score. Since the beginning of his tenure as Music Director in the 2021/22 Season, Mazzola — “Chicago’s Maestro-Around-Town” — has become a vital force in the city’s cultural scene. Internationally celebrated for his mastery of the Italian and French repertoire, Mazzola brings deep stylistic insight shaped by a career spanning the world’s most prestigious stages, including recent performances at Deutsche Oper Berlin, New National Theatre Tokyo, and Opéra national de Paris. His extensive Mozart credentials include critically acclaimed performances of the Requiem and the incidental music from Thamos, King of Egypt at Lyric in the 2023/24 Season. Earlier this season he conducted the Lyric premiere of Cherubini’s Medea, the double bill of Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana & Leoncavallo’s Pagliacci, and Orff’s Carmina Burana.
A visionary director’s legacy lives on. This production was originally directed by acclaimed director Michael Cavanagh, who conceived an ambitious Mozart-Da Ponte trilogy for San Francisco Opera that reimagined each opera in a different era of American history. For Così fan tutte, Cavanagh transposed the action to a glamorous 1930s-era seaside resort. Shortly before his death in March 2024, San Francisco Opera presented Cavanagh with the Opera Medal, the company’s highest honor, recognizing that his Mozart trilogy “will define our stage for generations to come.”
For this Lyric presentation, Roy Rallo serves as revival director, bringing Cavanagh’s vision to vibrant life for Chicago audiences. The American director began his career as artistic administrator of Long Beach Opera and has directed productions at opera houses across North America and Europe. He served as staff director for San Francisco Opera for 27 seasons, where he remounted numerous productions and created new stagings including Strauss’s Die Frau ohne Schatten and Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia. Previously at Lyric, he was the revival director for Sir David McVicar’s production of Verdi’s Il trovatore in the 2018/19 Season.
A creative team that dazzles the eye. The production design team includes set designer Erhard Rom, whose frothy, sun-drenched designs capture the carefree elegance of a bygone era; costume designer Constance Hoffman, whose period costumes evoke the sophistication of 1930s high society; and lighting designer Jane Cox, the Tony Award-winning designer whose work has been praised for its painterly quality and emotional resonance. Chorus Director Michael Black leads the Lyric Opera Chorus through Mozart’s deftly written choral passages.
Mozart’s most sophisticated comedy sparkles with wit and heart. With a stellar cast of rising stars and beloved Lyric favorites, visionary musical leadership from Enrique Mazzola, and Mozart’s psychologically penetrating score, Così fan tutte delivers an operatic experience that enchants, provokes, and leaves audiences pondering the mysteries of the human heart. This is Mozart at his most sublime — a perfect blend of comedy and pathos, brilliant vocal writing, and profound emotional truth.
Important to know:
Performance dates: Six chances to see Così fan tutte:
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Sunday, February 1, 2026 at 2 p.m.
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Wednesday, February 4, 2026 at 2 p.m.
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Saturday, February 7, 2026 at 7:30 p.m.
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Tuesday, February 10, 2026 at 7 p.m.
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Friday, February 13, 2026 at 7 p.m.
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Sunday, February 15, 2026 at 2 p.m.
Language: Sung in Italian, with easy-to-follow English titles projected above the stage.
Running time: 3 hours and 30 minutes, including one intermission.
Pre-performance talks: Ticketholders are invited to a free pre-opera talk by WFMT music director Oliver Camacho on Così fan tutte’s composition history and enduring themes; the talks begin one hour before each performance on the theater’s Steiner Parquet (the main floor).
Accessibility: Audio description, a guided touch tour of the set, and SoundShirts are available at the Sunday, February 1 matinee performance. Braille and large-print programs, high-powered opera glasses, assistive listening devices, and booster seats are available from the theater’s Steiner Parquet (main floor) coat checks at all performances. For more information on these and other accessibility assets, visit lyricopera.org/accessibility.
Production information: A San Francisco Opera production. Scenery construction and painting by the San Francisco Opera Scene Shop. Costumes fabricated by the San Francisco Opera Costume Shop.
Location: Lyric Opera House, 20 N. Wacker Drive, Chicago, Illinois.For more information and tickets, visit lyricopera.org/cosi or call 312.827.5600.
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