Program Notes
by Marysol Quevedo
L’Italiana in Algeri, Gioachino Rossini’s first major comic opera, takes its audience through a whirlwind of scenes in which characters from different worlds interact in extravagant and farcical situations. By using a preexisting libretto and borrowing some already-composed recitatives, Rossini focused on creating a work that exploited the comical elements of the plot, while at the same time introducing more lyrical and sentimental numbers that gave depth to the characters and offered musical contrast to the fast-paced comical scenes. Though many critics have observed how elements of comic opera infiltrated and enriched Rossini’s opera seria works, in the case of L’Italiana, Rossini borrows from opera seria, creating a more dynamic comic opera. Opera seria traditionally dealt with heroic or tragic plots and characters of noble or mythic origins, and its music tends to be more lyrical than buffa’s patter songs and brisk melodies. By inserting arias in the opera seria style, Rossini created more nuanced characters, while at the same time providing musical contrast to the comic numbers.
The influence of opera seria on L’Italiana is most noticeable in Isabella’s rondo from Act II, scene 11, “Pensa alla patria” (“Think of your country”), in which she rallies Mustafa’s Italian servants to unite and help her escape from Algiers. Far from parodying serious opera, Rossini allows Isabella’s rhetorical flair to shine through opera seria’s more decorous and elegant style rather than comic opera’s typically lighter musical setting. Similarly, in Act I, Rossini writes a cavatina for Lindoro, Mustafa’s Italian slave and Isabella’s lover, in which he laments his separation from Isabella. Rossini depicts Lindoro as a mournful lover who languishes for his beloved by giving him a slower and more lyrical number than the faster, comical ones that surround it. By assigning the two Italian characters more introspective numbers, Rossini leads his audience to sympathize with the lovers and creates musical contrast to the fast-paced comic numbers. After Lindoro’s sentimental cavatina, the opera returns to its comical, swift style as Mustafa announces his decision to have his wife marry Lindoro to make room for his new love interest. Mustafa’s announcement quickly transitions into a duet between the two men, which Rossini sets in his now-famous patter style, which is familiar to most audiences thanks to the iconic rendition of The Barber of Seville’s “Largo al factotum della città” by Bugs Bunny in “The Rabbit of Seville” and “Long Haired Hare.”
Another example of Rossinian farcical genius may be found in the wittily crafted Act I finale, where he demonstrates his mastery of comic and serious operatic styles by seamlessly transitioning from the elegant trio between Elvira, Lindoro, and Zulma into the frenetic cacophony of the ensemble finale. As the strong-willed heroine condemns Mustafa’s treatment of Elvira and demands Lindoro stay with her, the entire cast plummets into an onomatopoeic rollercoaster of confusion that builds into one of the most memorable Rossini crescendos. In their state of perplexity, they all hear different sounds in their heads: the women hear bells (din, din), Lindoro hears a hammer (tac, tac), Taddeo hears crowing (cra, cra), and Mustafa a cannon (bum, bum). As confusion rises, so does the music, which surges like a tidal wave that threatens to engulf the singers; the rise and fall of the music’s intensity serves as a musical depiction of the shipwreck the characters deliriously envision.
Rossini continues to demonstrate his genius for farce in the “Pappataci” trio of Act II. At this point, Isabella, pretending to show affection towards the misogynistic Algerian Bey Mustafa, bestows him with the Order of Pappataci. When Mustafa asks Lindoro and Taddeo what Pappataci do, they improvise an explanation, telling the gullible Mustafa that Pappataci enjoy a life of pleasure, food, drinks, and sleep. Lindoro and Taddeo “initiate” Mustafa as a Pappataci in this comical trio just minutes before we hear Isabella’s moving “Pensa alla patria.”
It is the balance between seriousness and silliness, between elegance and extravagance that appeals to audiences then and now. After its premiere at the Teatro San Benedetto in Venice on May 22, 1813, L’Italiana in Algeri catapulted 21-year-old Gioachino Rossini to operatic fame. Along with Tancredi, an opera seria composed earlier that year, L’Italiana defined Rossini as one of the leading opera composers of Italy and Europe. L’Italiana was Rossini’s first opera to be considered worthy to produce outside of Italy, with productions in Munich in 1816 and Paris in 1817. The work’s instant world renown was surprising, considering its inauspicious start. The Teatro San Benedetto gave Rossini the commission at the last minute when another composer failed to deliver an opera of his own. With only 27 days to finish the opera, Rossini reworked a preexisting libretto by Angelo Anelli that had already been staged by Luigi Mosca. To add to the strain of finishing an opera in such a short period of time, Rossini felt he had to redeem himself from the failure of his La pietra del paragone earlier that season. L’Italiana continued to delight audiences until Rossini’s popularity began to fade in the last years of the nineteenth century. L’Italiana was revived in 1925, and it hasn’t left the operatic repertoire since then, as it continues to captivate audiences with Rossini’s inimitable blend of comic and serious styles.
