Flighty and fickle or faithful and true? Mozart poses this classic question in his famous comedic opera Così fan tutte (pronounced KOH-zee fahn TOOT-eh), a tale involving the misadventures of two sisters and their soldier boyfriends. For these starry-eyed young couples, romantic illusions are given a nasty wakeup call when they decide to test the boundaries of love, loyalty, and friendship in a complicated game of “boys vs. girls.”

Così fan tutte or La scuola degli amanti (translates to “Women Are Like That” or “The School for Lovers”) marks the final collaboration between the dynamic duo of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and the Italian clergyman-turned-party boy-turned-poet Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its timeless story draws on a variety of myths, plays, poems, and early operas, but also offers some unique twists on older themes of love and fidelity.

Note courtesy of the Kennedy Center