Rossini, G.: Italian Girl in Algiers (The) (L'Italiana in Algeri) [Opera] (Highlights) (Sung in English)

Featuring

Alastair Miles
Sarah Tynan
Anne Marie Gibbons
David Soar
Barry Banks
Jennifer Larmore

Alan Opie
Brad Cohen
Philharmonia Orchestra
Geoffrey Mitchell Choir
Gioachino Rossini

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Composer's Artistic Vision

The novelist Stendhal, Rossini's first biographer, considered The Italian Girl in Algiers "perfection in the opera buffa style," seeing it as a work of pure escapism.

Composition History

Rossini composed The Italian Girl in Algiers in less than a month, using an existing libretto by Angelo Anelli because there was no time to commission a new one.

Composer Biography

Rossini, the composer, was only 21 years old when he wrote The Italian Girl in Algiers in May 1813.

Recording & Production

This recording is part of Chandos's 'Opera in English' series, which is supported by the Peter Moores Foundation to make opera more accessible.

Compositional Technique

The overture to The Italian Girl in Algiers features a unique crescendo, a hallmark of Rossini's style, and striking sonorities like violins playing sul ponticello (near the bridge) and a piccolo and bassoon combination.

Critical Reception

At its 1813 premiere, sections of the audience accused Rossini of plagiarizing Luigi Mosca's earlier setting of the same libretto, leading the prima donna to sing both versions to prove Rossini's originality.

Performer Biography

Jennifer Larmore, the mezzo-soprano singing Isabella, is one of the most recorded mezzo-sopranos of all time, with over seventy recordings to her name.