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Lee Hartman: Thanks for coming to Kansas City to play Despina in Così fan tutte. Così has one of the most ridiculous plots in all of opera and Despina, the maid, is one of the instigators of the shenanigans. Could you speak to her motivations?

Susanne Mentzer: Well, I think Don Alfonso is the one who first gets the idea and gets her into it, but she’s the one who comes up with the wacky ideas—not so much dressing the guys up; they come to that on their own—but she comes up with ways to make it more complicated. She stands to gain from this if Don Alfonso wins, if [the girls prove unfaithful]. There are many times throughout the opera that the guys think they’ve won; they think that the girls are really faithful. Despina’s pretty earthy and pretty practical and has also probably been jilted. She tends to put the doubt in their minds. It’s about human nature and what the power of suggestion can do to a person.

But the tables turn on her, because at the very end […] she gets revealed as the notary. So the girls hate her, and then the guys hate her, and then everybody hates her. It’s not driven home, but I think she’s pretty much lumped by herself again and pissed off at the whole lot of them.

LH: So the poor jilted maid becomes even more ostracized from those she is supposed to serve.

SM: Right! There are all these different ways to look at it, too. She may have had a relationship with Don Alfonso. [In the opera,] Don Alfonso comes off as a very asexual type person—very academic—cynical and jaded himself.

LH: He’s just doing this bet to prove a point?

SM: Yeah, I think that’s one way to look at it. Who knows why he’s doing it?  He reminds me of a professional gambler, someone who will take any opportunity to place a bet and go all the way with it.

LH: This isn’t your first Despina, is it?

SM:  I’ve done eleven different productions of Così fan tutte. This is my fourth Despina; the rest of them were Dorabella [one of the fiancés].

LH: What differences do you highlight as you approach these two roles?

SM: Oh, they are totally different! Despina is more independent. I feel that when I’m Dorabella, which I love to sing, you’re always connected to Fiordiligi. It’s like you’re almost twins. You don’t have a unique identity and it can drive you crazy. The second aria—which they will cut here—when that is cut, you feel like the character is hard to develop, whereas Despina has a lot of different scenes to play and you don’t feel as lost.

LH: Those scenes involve Despina taking on different personas, correct?

SM: She gets to be a notary and a doctor.

LH: So her doctor role is where the infamous magnet comes into play.

SM: I don’t think we’re using a magnet in this show; I think we’re going to have a crystal ball. Despina refers to Mesmer, so it must have been the science of the times. Early in the opera, the girls are reading each other’s palms. I think there must have been a lot of Ouija board action going on back then! [Laughs.] There was this fascination with the mystic. That’s why [the characters] would actually believe that some wacky doctor could come in and do this, whereas nowadays it makes no sense. 

LH: As Despina embodies these different characters, do you bring anything extra to the parts to differentiate the characters?

SM: I’m always Despina doing a character. She loves to be the center of attention and she’s sick of being the maid to these spoiled girls. So this is payback time. They are there for the summer and she has no patience with them because they are very spoiled. I think it is fun for her and she has the monetary motivation, because Don Alfonso is going to pay her really well if she can get them to go away with the other’s [fiancé].

LH: How are you handling the comedic aspects of Così? Are you using physical comedy or letting the story with translations work its magic?

SM: It’s a combination. It’s one of those pieces that can be very dated. If you look at the story, it’s totally implausible. But if you get it down to its bare bones, it’s a couple of girls who are in love with a couple of guys, and they end up falling in love with someone else who turns out to be the same person, just disguised. I think in reality it’s hard to go back to that [original] relationship. There’s a trust factor that gets violated. Don Alfonso and Despina keep themselves from ever getting involved at that level. […] They are not emotionally involved, whereas the other four are emotional characters. So you can apply that to any period, any age. Of course, the disguise mechanism is used in lots of theatrical works. I think everyone should come away with a different opinion, whether they feel sorry for the girls or sorry for the guys, or whether they feel everything is going to be fine or not so fine. There are many ways to play it, and it’s not defined at the end. It’s up to the director and performers and I’ve played it many ways.

Most people as an audience like to see a happy ending and the music is upbeat at the end. So it’s better for the audience to go home thinking it’s jolly and wonderful and all is forgiven. But we know that’s not ever the case.  […]

Whenever I’ve done comedy I’ve used the models of Lucille Ball and Mary Tyler Moore. Those actresses I find very interesting.

LH: They are classic, lasting comediennes.

SM: Exactly. And they are so good at physical comedy and I grew up with that type of comedy so I can relate to it. I try to apply that to the comic roles that I do.

LH: What’s next for Susanne Mentzer?

SM: […] I’m at a time in my career when I’m not an old singer and I’m not a young singer. I can’t really get away with [playing] young boys any more, and I can’t get away with old ladies yet. It’s a weird age to be in terms of opera. I will be doing Marcellina in Figaro and the Beggar Lady in Sweeney Todd, though.

LH: Break a leg in Così and the upcoming productions!

SM: Thanks! I’m happy to be here! I’ve never sung [in Kansas City] before; I’ve only been once, very briefly, to judge a Met competition. It’s such a neat town and it’s so different from what I expected. I lived in Chicago for 19 years and it’s just nice to be back in a Midwestern town.

Susanne Mentzer appears as Despina in the Lyric Opera of Kansas City’s production of Mozart’s Così fan tutte, November 5–13 in the Muriel Kauffman Theatre at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. She is joined by cast mates Amanda Hall, Matthew Plenk, Marie Lenormand, and David Won as the four fiancés. Kristine McIntyre directs. For tickets, visit http://www.kcopera.org.

Top Photo: Susanne Mentzer (Photo by Marty Umans)

By Lee Hartman

Editor-in-Chief; Traditional and New Classical Contributor

Lee Hartman holds degrees from the University of Missouri-Kansas City (D.M.A., M.M.) and the University of Delaware (B.M.). At the University of Delaware, he received a Dean's Scholar position enabling him to pursue an individually designed academic program combining music education and composition. At the University of Missouri-Kansas City he served for three years as the Assistant Director to Musica Nova, the conservatory's new music ensemble, while teaching a variety of composition classes.

In 2007 he was invited to both the Iceland Academy of the Arts in Reykjavík, Iceland and the Sichuan Conservatory in Chengdu, China to give lectures and master classes in composition. In the summer of 2009, Hartman served as an orchestra manager for the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble and Aspen Opera Theater Center for various performances. He serves on the National Executive Committee of the Society of Composers, Inc. as Submissions Coordinator. His primary composition instructors include James Mobberley, Chen Yi, Zhou Long, Paul Rudy, John Beall, and Jennifer Margaret Barker. He currently teaches music theory at the University of Central Missouri and general music classes at Park University having previously taught at UD (2007–08) and UMKC (2006–07).

His compositions can be found at http://www.leehartmanmusic.com