Charleston, SC. (North America).

Operatic lunacy reigned at Spoleto Festival USA in May, from the divine madness of Cost Fan Tutte to diabolical goofiness in Der Fliegende Hollander. Mozart's round-robin of romance profited by a giddy, vigorous production that seemed to be set in three centuries at once, but Wagner's parable of redemption through woman's love foundered on the rocks of absurdity. Luckily, one could always close one's eyes and enjoy its stylish cast, led by Mark Delavan's grim Dutchman.

Charleston's intimate Dock Street Theatre, built as a hotel about a decade after Mozart died, proved an ideal setting for Cost. French director Pierre Constant kept the action whirling through three virtually uncut hours. After a brief sparring match between Guglielmo and Ferrando (refereed by Don Alfonso in bow tie and slacks), we met Fiordiligi and Dorabella in their boudoir. There they awoke to receive male visitors (very twentieth-century behavior, that), have pillow fights, get dressed and chase Despina around. Lili Kendaka's costumes later put Alfonso in periwig and frock coat, Guglielmo and Ferrando in nineteenth-century naval uniforms and Despina in high heels and French maid's garb. The only signs that we were in Naples came from commedia dell'arte extras, who wore masks and threw tinsel to celebrate the Act II nuptials.

George Cleve conducted with brio, never rushing but carrying us nimbly through spots where Mozart says the same things over and over. Angela Fout's Fiordiligi and Christopher Schaldenbrand's Guglielmo led a young, sexy cast. Even Lyubov Petrova's saucy Despina made bedroom eyes at Julien Robbins's susceptible Alfonso. Jesus Garcia and Jossie Perez were more conventional as Ferrando and Dorabella, but still they struck a few sparks as needed. For once, one could believe that these characters were naive and immature enough to play foolish tricks on each other yet expect instantaneous forgiveness and reconciliation. Robbins stood alone on the other side of the age barrier as the sensible cynic who proves the title "They All Do It," ...