At once the most light-hearted and most disturbing of Mozart and Da Ponte's Italian comic operas, Così fan tutte has provoked widely differing reactions from listeners for more than two centuries. Bruce Alan Brown offers several paths towards a closer understanding of the work, providing a detailed account of the libretto's complex origins in myth, Italian literary classics, and contemporary theatre. The handbook also includes a discussion of the social and philosophical issues raised in Così and a chapter devoted to the opera's genesis reveals surprising new information on the role played by Mozart's rival Salieri. It contains a full synopsis, performance history, illustrations from key productions, and a bibliography.