Rossini, Gioacchino
Der Italienerin in Algier (1813)
Comic opera in two acts (eight scenes)
Libretto by Angelo Anelli; German version and musical arrangement by Hugo Röhr; new edition and arrangment based on Röhr version and original sources by Robert Werner (G)
Scoring
colS,lyrS,charA,T,lyrT,lyrBar,buffoB; chorus;
1(=picc,2picc ad lib).2.2.2(II ad lib)-2.2.0.0-timp(=BD)-hpcd-strings.
Abbreviations (PDF).
Territory
This work is available from Boosey & Hawkes for the world.
World Premiere
5/22/1813
Teatro San Benedetto, Venice
Company: Unknown
World premiere of version
10/9/1966
Freiburg im Breisgau
Company: Unknown
Roles
| MUSTAPHA, bey of Algier | Buffo Bass |
| ELVIRA, his wife | Lyric Soprano |
| ZULIMA, her slave and friend | Character Contralto |
| ALI, Mustapha's bodyguard | Lyric Baritone |
| LINDORO, a young Italian, favourite slave and prisoner of Mustapha | Lyric Tenor |
| ISABELLA, an Italian lady | Coloratura Soprano |
| TADDEO, her companion | Tenor |
| Keepers of the harem, Algerian corsars, European slaves, Women of the seraglio, Sailors |
Time and Place
Algeria in the 17th century
Synopsis Mustapha, the bey of Algier, has had enough of his first wife Elvira. He longs for something new, different, and freshly exciting. Why not a hot-blooded Italian for a change? After all, he has heard that they are the best lovers of the world. Hardly has he issued the order when Ali arrives, with Isabella and her companion Taddeo who he has discovered shipwrecked on the beach. Isabella had courageously and intrepidly gone to search for her lover Lindoro, who had been kidnapped by pirates, and is overjoyed to find him a slave in the bey's retinue. Now Mustapha has to be outwitted, and in this the Italians are helped by his vanity and naivety. And, a plate of pasta can work wonders in the desert!
