document: $ 9 million bequest offers & lsquo ; stability & rsquo ; Love , infidelity and stable finances are in the air at the Atlanta Opera , with Mozart 's subversive `` Cosi Fan Tutte '' opening Saturday , and with the realization that a recent $ 9 million bequest has opened a new chapter for the 31-year-old company . Alarming news has been frequent from across the local performing arts scene . The mighty Atlanta Symphony Orchestra groans under the weight of a debt beyond $ 8 million . The smaller Cobb Symphony issued an urgent plea to its patrons to bridge a budget gap of almost $ 50,000 . Tiny arts groups across the region struggle to make payroll . But there have been a few breakthrough stories in recent years , such as the Atlanta Ballet 's big capital campaign , big endowment gifts and deluxe new dance studio . The Atlanta Opera was in financial hot water , too , until an unexpected bequest from the late Barbara D. Stewart , a corporate economist , arrived in February . Soon after , the opera sold out its run of `` Porgy and Bess , '' the cap to what might be remembered as the best month the company has ever had . Suddenly its future is looking as buoyant as its upcoming Mozart production at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre with four performances through April 17 . `` Cosi Fan Tutte '' is the third and final production of the Atlanta Opera 's 2010-11 season . By the terms of Stewart 's will , half of the $ 9 million must go to the endowment , which brings the total to $ 5.4 million . -LRB- If the opera gets 5 percent interest off the endowment , that means $ 270,000 will be added to the budget annually . -RRB- The rest , general director Dennis Hanthorn says , will go into the checking account . `` We have n't actually received the money , but we 'll need it to replenish our cash reserves , '' he said . `` Our balance sheet has been weak , and we were known as a pay-as-you-go organization . These funds will help us cover the bills when cash is low , to cover the months between when a grant has been announced and when it 's actually paid . '' He continued : `` The funds wo n't allow us to add another production -- each costs about $ 600,000 -- but it gives us stability . Her gift legitimizes the organization . Before , we 'd be asked -LSB- by foundations and individual donors -RSB- ` How long you gon na stay in business ? ' Well , now we are not going out of business . '' In addition to the opera 's $ 9 million , Stewart also left $ 1.5 million each to the High Museum of Art and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra . Although Stewart had been a steady patron of the arts over the decades , and had served on the Atlanta Opera 's board , Hanthorn was surprised by the size of the gift . `` Barbara was a very modest person , '' he said . `` The Woodruff Arts Center was n't aware she 'd give that much away . `` I suspect few people knew she had that kind of money , '' Hanthorn said , `` and no one was suspecting that level of generosity for the arts in Atlanta . I 'm humbled by it , and the best way we can honor her memory is to double or triple her bequest . '' The other way to honor Stewart is to produce great opera . `` Cosi Fan Tutte '' is the third and most subtle , and slightly louche , of the trio of masterpiece operas Mozart composed with librettist Lorenzo da Ponte . Like `` Marriage of Figaro '' and `` Don Giovanni , '' `` Cosi '' is brought to a boil by the subject of sex that is risqué or unwelcome , depending on your perspective . The title is an imprecise translation from Italian meaning `` all women are like that , '' a bit of barbed chauvinism that sets the plot in motion . On a bet , two young soldiers test their fiancées ' fidelity . The girls are sisters , and to trick them each guy appears in disguise to woo the other 's betrothed . Dispiritingly , each soldier seems to have more chemistry with his pal 's gal than with his own . The seductions are successful . ``` Cosi Fan Tutte ' is a statement about how we lie to each other but really lie to ourselves , '' said Carter Joseph , who has taught an Evenings at Emory class on the opera . `` Historically , it opens the door to the end of the Enlightenment , where we 've tried rational thought and it does n't work : Everyone is disillusioned at the end of the opera and our passions won out . '' Many elements of the plot , however , would fit the pop culture of our own time . By classical convention , da Ponte 's unerringly brilliant libretto has all the action take place in a single day and in -LRB- mostly -RRB- one location , including spontaneous dual weddings at the end . `` That sounds far-fetched and decadent , but Britney Spears got married for just a day , '' Joseph pointed out . `` The whole plot could be the premise for a reality television show . But the music is by Mozart , and he does n't pass judgments . He finds their humanity . '' Pierre Ruhe is classical music critic of www.ArtsCriticATL.com .
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