This weekend Minnesota Opera, a Knight Arts grantee, opened its season with a charming version of Mozart’s “Cosi Fan Tutte.” Under the savvy direction of Theater Latte Da’s Artistic Director Peter Rothstein and maestro Christopher Franklin, this iteration of the opera, which first debuted in 1790 Vienna, feels at once timeless and fresh, not to mention wholly entertaining.

Mozart’s romantic farce follows a familiar plot line: a pair of fresh-faced young military men, Ferrando (tenor John Tessier) and Guglielmo (baritone Matthew Worth) are persuaded to play a prank on their girlfriends, sisters Dorabella (mezzo-soprano Jennifer Holloway) and Fiordiligi (soprano Jacquelyn Wagner). The two are convinced to do so by the worldly Don Alfonso (bass-baritone Daniel Mobbs), who proposes a cynical wager on a test of the sisters’ fidelity after overhearing the young men boast about their lovers’ unswerving affections.

The prank: The young men tell the sisters they must leave for war, eliciting promises of eternal fidelity, and then return to them in disguise, pretending to be visiting dignitaries from Albania (their identities masked by mustaches and vivid, vaguely Asiatic robes and turbans). These “friends” of Don Alfonso are instantly smitten with the girls and set out to try and win their hearts. The conspirators are aided in their ruse by the sisters’ wise-cracking maid, Despina (Minnesota Opera resident artist Angela Mortellaro). Don Alfonso suggests tricking the young men’s lady-loves to prove to them that any woman will succumb to faithlessness when tempted, because “cosi fan tutte” — “they are all like that.”

The set design (by Alexander Dodge) is elegant and minimal: Grecian columns flank a spacious room bordered by sliding doors, and occupied by just a few gracious gestures toward habitation — a potted tree, maybe a bench or a bistro table and a couple of chairs. In a bit of theatrical magic, the stage opens down the center periodically to reveal a river down which a schooner sails or a garden pond, where the couples cavort with and moon over one another. Gentle lighting warms the space with what reads like dappled sunlight. All together, it’s enchanting.

The cast members are themselves lovely to look at — lithe and painfully youthful, absolutely believable in their puppy-love roles, each of them winsome all decked out in period finery. And oh, those costumes. Sumptuous fabrics and coquettish pastels, the gowns in particular (designed by Alejo Vietti) are simply spectacular. If you’ve a yen for fashion, I swear, the beautiful dresses alone are worth the price of the ticket.

But you don’t go to an opera to see the stage dressing or costumes, I know. The vocalists are, many of them, just starting out in their careers, but they are impressively assured in their roles. Of special note: Wagner’s velvety soprano soars through Mozart’s twining melodies; Mobb’s baritone is likewise rich and sonorous, an ear-pleasing counterpoint both to Wagner’s lilting lyricism and Holloway’s warm mezzo.

Director Rothstein’s hand is evident throughout the staging, especially in the subtleties of the comic pacing, which is pitch-perfect — punctuated by a clever bit of slapstick here, a wry aside or significant glance there. The characters are exuberantly played and colorful, but not rendered as fools: the humor we find at their expense feels affectionate rather than broadly executed buffoonery.

Too often, I think, “Cosi” is overshadowed by Mozart’s much-beloved and flashier operas: “Don Giovanni,” “The Magic Flute,” “The Marriage of Figaro.” Perhaps that’s because the latter plays all celebrate the showstopper — the sort of grand, memorable arias, whose melodies you hum as you leave the theater. In “Cosi,” unlike these others, the ensemble is primary, and tightly wrought, intertwining, subtler melodic lines take center stage. Maybe that’s why I’ve always had a soft spot for this opera; for me, Mozart’s inimitable gift for weaving together vocal harmonies is most evident in such compositions for multiple voices.

If you’ve an opera novice in your life and you’ve been looking for the right introduction, this accessible, engaging production would be a wonderful entre to the form.

Minnesota Opera presents “Cosi Fan Tutte,” with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte, which will be on stage Sept. 24  through Oct. 2 at the Ordway, 345 Washington St., St. Paul, Minn., 55102. Visit the Minnesota Opera website for performance times and ticket information.