The Italian Girl in Algiers

Mustafa longs for a spirited Italian woman. His own wife, Elvira, no longer excites him, and he plans to match her with his favorite slave, Lindoro, who years ago had been captured in Algiers. Yet Lindoro remains in love with Isabella, who, searching for him, is shipwrecked, appears at Mustafa’s court, and with radiant self-assurance attempts to free her beloved through audacious schemes.

Rossini’s flair for ironic situational comedy, his playful onomatopoeic effects, and his exuberant inventiveness with fresh melodies and brightly colored orchestral textures shine in this lively opera buffa. The Italian Girl in Algiers already established the composer, at the premiere in 1813, as a master of the comic style. Remarkably, Rossini created this sparkling comedy in the space of a few weeks at the age of only 21—still younger than the singers of the Opera Studio, who are guided by the legendary mezzo-soprano Brigitte Fassbaender. Following the triumph of The Barber of Seville at the Bregenzer Festspiele in 2018, she once again demonstrates her flair for imaginative humor.

Symphonieorchester Vorarlberg