I want to comment on another "new" Cosi: the mid-50's Bo"hm recording
newly re-released on CD by Decca/London with Della Casa, Ludwig, Loose,
Dermota, Kunz, and Scho"ffler.  (This is its second CD reissue, so I am
sorely taxing the definition of "new.")

Had this set on LP years ago but am just now renewing my acquaintance with
it, and I must say it is a wonderful performance.  Bo"hm here is by no
means the dullard he became in so many orchestral recordings of Mozart from
the 1960's.  He and all his performers, most emphatically if unsurprisingly
including the members of the Vienna Phil of the period, phrase and inflect
with enviable conviction and relaxed self-confidence.  They all seem to the
Mozart manner born.

Despite Fiordligi's two ambitious arias, Cosi is an ensemble opera,
and these singers sum to a well nigh ideal total ensemble.  The
lively interactions between the characters seem made up on the spot.
Nevertheless, I can't resist singling out the three ladies for their
stunning contributions.  I refuse to quibble about the slight brittleness
occasionally audible at the top of Della Casa's range or her slightly
imperfect command of fioritura in "Come scoglio." She perfectly incarnates
Fiordiligi, at once passionate and unwittingly silly, half opera seria and
half opera buffa.  What a delicious performance, and her musicianship is
impeccable.  (Fritz Reiner once told her, "Lisa, you know I hate all
singers, but you're not a singer, you're a musician.") Christa Ludwig
and Emy Loose perform at the same exalted level.

The men in the cast exhibit less sheer tonal allure than the three
ladies, but they, too, are consummate musicians and true singing actors.
Schoeffler is a particularly effective Don Alfonso.  His every syllable
counts both musically and dramatically.  Kunz is alert and lively as
Guglielmo, Dermota an earnest and musicianly Ferrando.

This is one of the finest, most convincing and lively performances of Cosi
I've ever heard.

P.S.  There are two drawbacks to this set: there is a slight cut in the
first act finale, and the finale is marred by a side break, the result of
cramming the opera onto two CD's.

-david gable