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L'italiana in Algeri
L'italiana in Algeri (The Italian Girl in Algiers) is an operatic
dramma giocoso in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by
Angelo Anelli, based on his earlier text set by Luigi Mosca. The music is
characteristic of Rossini's style, remarkable for its fusion of sustained,
manic energy with elegant, pristine melodies.
Rossini wrote L'italiana in Algeri when he
was 21. The opera was composed in either 18 or 27 days, depending on which
source one believes (Rossini, not surprisingly, pegged it at 18). Rossini
entrusted the composition of the recitatives as well as the aria "Le
femmine d'Italia" to an unknown collaborator. The opera is notable for
Rossini's mixing of opera seria style in opera buffa. The overture is widely
recorded and performed today, known for its distinct opening of slow, quiet
pizzicato basses, leading to a sudden loud burst of sound from the full
orchestra. This "surprise" reflects Rossini's early admiration for
Joseph Haydn, whose Symphony No. 94 in
G major, "The Surprise Symphony", is so named for the same shocking,
semi-comic effect.
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article L'italiana in Algeri
