A Venetian journal reported that Gioacchino Rossini wrote “L’Italiana in Algeri” (“The Italian Girl in Algiers”) in 27 days. The composer insisted the deed was done in 18. At age 21, the very busy Rossini seemed pleased with the speed in which he was writing operas.
“L’Italiana in Algeri” premiered in May 1813. In the two-and-a-half years prior to that event, Rossini had prepared 10 works for opera houses in Italy, these of varying lengths and tenor, several just one act farces such as “La Scala di Seta” and “Il Signor Bruschino,” better known these days for their sparkling overtures than their entirety. But more substantial works — the “heroic melodrama,” “Tancredi,” foremost among them — also were created. Giaocchino Rossini was rapidly making his mark as the composer to watch.
“L’Italiana” also paved the way for the comedies very soon to follow, works that have sustained his popularity: “Il Turco in Italia,” “Il Barbiere di Siviglia,” and “La Cenerentola.” “It’s delightful Rossini comedy,” says Vincent Liotta, stage director for the IU Opera Theater production that’s to open the new season on Friday evening in the Musical Arts Center. “This is the earlier one, and it’s interesting to see how Rossini’s comedic style developed. ‘Italiana’ is not a great work like ‘Cenerentola,’ but it is a wonderful piece, nevertheless, an absolute delight, with good fun almost every moment.”
IU Opera Theater has not performed it since 1968, and that was the only year the opera made the repertory. “It’s time,” says Liotta. The 41-year absence means it “will be a fresh experience for most in our audience,” he notes. That means also there was need for a new production. The solution was a set designed for the Opera Company of Philadelphia, which Liotta describes as “traditional, cute, cartoony, very colorful, nice to look at, and it works. Nothing gets in the way as the singers do their necessary running around.”
The singers, of course, have to do much more than run around. They do have to lift their voices, and in that department, they’ll be under the guidance of Arthur Fagen, a highly experienced master of the baton with a soft spot for opera. He joined the Jacobs School faculty a year ago. “L’Italiana in Algeri” serves as his local operatic debut, his previous podium assignments here having been of a symphonic nature.
“The Rossini style is something you can’t take for granted,” he says. “For singers, this bel canto work is very difficult, but our casts are doing very well.” Fagen has prepared Rossini operas for numerous performances over his distinguished career. “Mostly, it has been with veterans, those with years of experience. Handling students is very different. For many, this is the first Rossini production. It’s gratifying how far they’ve come, and I’ve enjoyed the opportunity of working with them from scratch, which one rarely gets to do in a professional company.”
Liotta has been “a helpful colleague,” says Fagen. “I like working with him. He knows the style so well. And there’s none of that urge in him to go off the deep end as some of those European directors strangely like to do. Vince accepts that the opera is a period piece and understands how to make it work. I want and he wants people to have a good time, and I think they will.”
The story is based on legend (the beautiful slave of the Turkish ruler Suleiman the Magnificent) and perhaps on history (the life of a Milanese woman abducted by pirates just a few years before the opera was written). It concerns Bey Mustafa who has wearied of his wife Elvira. With the help of Ali, the captain of his corsairs, he casts about for a new one, a European. As it so happens, the European Isabella has set sail from Italy to find her missing lover, Lindoro, who has been held captive by the Bey. A shipwreck brings Isabella to Mustafa. The Bey is captivated by her. She encourages his feelings but contrives to gain everyone’s freedom. She succeeds and, this being a comedy, the plot makes sure to leave most everyone happy. The libretto by Angelo Anelli allows every character to gain a personality while the story frolicsomely and frantically unfolds.
In contemporary terms, what occurs could be translated into a story about the repression of women in some societies and their independence elsewhere. But, says Fagen, “Rossini had no political motives. He just wanted to offer a great comedy, an entertainment. The music he wrote for it is among the most effervescent, the most exhilarating ever written.”
“Arthur has been great,” Liotta says of Fagen. “There’s nothing about opera he doesn’t know. I’ve also found him to be one of the most collaborative conductors that I have worked with. He’s open to ideas, and he’s really a fine musician.”
Liotta describes the opera as “no cakewalk. The demands on the soloists and the choral ensemble are considerable,” to which Fagen adds that, instrumentally, “L’Italiana” presents issues as well. “The style is very different. British and American orchestras tend to do Rossini in short and quick form. The Italians approach the music more lyrically. Our orchestras are not used to it, but we’re striving for that approach” with the production’s pit ensemble, the Concert Orchestra.
Fagen points out that another feature of the IU “L’Italiana” will be a hardly-ever-performed cadenza and ornamentation for Isabella’s big aria in the second act. “It’s one we discovered right in the Jacobs School library, and it was used by a singer who worked with Rossini, a celebrated mezzo from the early 19th century, Laure Cinti-Damoreau.”
Liotta says that to experience “L’Italiana in Algeri” is “to see the Rossini genius in its development stage. Technically speaking, the opera is not perfect. But for the audience, it’s pure enjoyment, certainly as funny as ‘Barber.’ For our singers, well, they’re having a ball as they learn to act out comedy while they handle music of great difficulty. It’s been an exhausting process physically and vocally, but everyone has been handling it beautifully.”
Audiences took to “L’Italiana” immediately. After its premiere in Venice, Rossini is said to have commented, “I thought that, when they heard my opera, the Venetians would decide I was crazy. But they have shown themselves to be crazier than I am.”
We’ve a chance this week and next to become Venetians, crazier than Rossini.
If you go
WHAT: Rossini’s “L’Italiana in Algeri.”
WHO: IU Opera Theater, its season opener. Two casts alternate. Arthur Fagen serves as conductor and Vincent Liotta as stage director. Sets were designed by Paul Shortt for Opera Company of Philadelphia.
WHERE: Musical Arts Center.
WHEN: Friday and Saturday evenings of this week and next, with curtain at 8.
TICKETS: On opening night (Friday), $25 for adults, $12 for students. On remaining nights, reserved seating, $15-$35 for adults, $10-$20 for students.
