Rossini: L'italiana in Algeri

Featuring

David Oštrek
Polly Ott
Laura Murphy
Adam Kutny
Miloš Bulajić
Hannah Ludwig

Manuel Walser
Jakob Lehmann
Eroica Berlin
Neue Männerchor Berlin
Gioachino Rossini

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Composition History

Gioachino Rossini's opera "L'italiana in Algeri" premiered in Venice in 1813 and remains one of his most popular comic operas.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Rossini's opera features an eponymous heroine who takes command against male despotism, uniting with the oppressed and bringing down the patriarch through her wits and intellect.

Interpretation

Eroica Berlin, the orchestra on this recording, uses a mixed approach to instruments, with modern woodwinds, gut strings, and historically documented bow models.

Instruments

The recording features natural horns and trumpets, and a percussion group that realizes the 'Banda turca' popular in Rossini's time, including the 'mezzaluna' or Turkish crescent.

Interpretation

The recording features a bass-heavy orchestral balance, following Giuseppe Scaramelli's 1811 recommendation of one double bass per four violins, and uses 3-string double basses for a bigger, freer resonance.

Recording & Production

This live recording of "L'italiana in Algeri" was made in October 2022 at Berlin's Theater im Delphi, a former silent movie cinema from the 1920s.

Interpretation

The orchestra's seating arrangement follows a special Italian model, with string registers spread out, first violins facing the stage, and the continuo trio in the center.