Marco Vinco

Live performance, Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, July 2006. 'L'italiana in Algeri' (English: '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. It premiered at the Teatro San Benedetto in Venice on 22 May 1813. The music is characteristic of Rossini's style, remarkable for its fusion of sustained, manic energy with elegant, pristine melodies.

Final performance of the 1974 John Copley production. Live from ROH June 10 2015.

Celebrating the 200th anniversary of this masterpiece's creation with this extravagant yet delicious production by Pier Luigi Pizzi at the Teatro Real Madrid! Far from the tradition productions in period costume, Pier Luigi Pizzi imagines this Touchstone in a modern villa "Beverly Hills style"! Sheltered by large verandas, the Count Asdrubale wanders in his luxurious bathrobe and watch his guests enjoy his gorgious garden, notably provided with real swimming-pool! With sport chic clothes and models dressed in bikinis, the stage is very close to look like the yacht of a celebrity...

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.

In the plot for this production the story is updated to the 1970s. Gamberotto is a vegetable import/export merchant. According to the Dynamic website Ernestina is a seductive businesswoman. However when she first appears she drifts about reading a book entitled ‘Love’. Buralicchio becomes an Elvis rocker. Leave the rest of the plot alone, yes, including the castrati part, and you are indeed in the land of the ridiculous. Suspend disbelief? Essential if the plot is to have any relevance.

Meyerbeer opera with Emmanuel Villaume conducting the Orchestra and Chorus of Teatro La Fenice di Venezia directed by Pier Lui.