As the opera opens, Ferrando and Guglielmo want to prove each other that their fiancées, the two sisters Dorabella and Fiordiligi are faithful and would never betray their love. Don Alfonso, the cynical philosopher, assures them that all women act alike and cannot be trusted. The two of them take the challenge and accept Alfonso’s dangerous conditions. They pretend to go to war and come back to the young girls as strangers to seduce them and test their loyalty.

While the two sisters lament upon their lovers’ absence, the maid Despina talks them into enjoying life with the other men available. The young girls gradually yield to their wooers’ compliments but each one prefer their sister’s lovers. Ferrando’s fiancée Dorabella falls for Guglielmo, where as Fiordiligi remains faithful, which triggers a competition between the two male friends…

Così fan Tutte, or the School for Lovers is a drama giocoso commissioned by Emperor Joseph II. It is based on the original libretto by Da Ponte and marks the last piece of the composer’s collaboration with the librettist after Le nozze di Figaro and Don Giovanni. It shows how human nature can be fickle and fragile. According to Iván Fisher, the music director of this production, the opera tells us that “we are all seducible, and it is something which is forgivable, which has to be forgiven.”

This opening night at Carnegie Hall will be one to remember. Carnegie Hall co-commissioned a work from Finnish composer Magnus Lindberg, formerly the New York Philharmonic’s Marie-Josée Kravis Composer-in-Residence. Receiving its world premiere performance, Vivo (subtitled “Concert Opener for Orchestra”) was written in tribute to Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé, a symphonic piece also featured in the evening’s program.

Following Vivo, the New York Philharmonic will be joined by Evgeny Kissin for Tchaikovsky’s immortal Piano Concerto No. 1. Completed in 1875 and revised in 1889, the concerto was supposed to be dedicated to the famous piano virtuoso Nikolai Rubinstein, Tchaikovsky’s close friend. The pianist, however, disliked it so much when he heard it the first time that Tchaikovsky chose to dedicate it to someone else. Though understandably shaken by his friend’s criticism, the composer vowed, “I won’t change a single note.” The concerto’s immediate success forced Rubinstein to admit his mistake, eventually becoming one of the best performers of the concerto. Tonight, Evgeny Kissin steps perfectly into his shoes.

The New York Philharmonic ends the concert with the Daphnis et Chloé Suite No. 2, extracted from Ravel’s score for the one-act ballet based on the adaptation by Greek writer Longus. In this second suite, the composer incorporates sections of the ballet that have principally to do with celebration—a perfect close for this festive event.