Following the Napolitan buffa tradition, The Italian in Algiers is a two-act opera with music by Gioachino Rossini and libretto by Angelo Anelli. It was very well received by both critics and audience when it was premiered in 1813. The melody is characteristic of Rossini’s style, blending a vibrant sustained energy with original melodies which allow singers to perform arias with spectacular virtuosity.

This comic piece, created when he was just 21, tells the story of Isabella, a resourceful Italian who makes the most of her charm and intelligence to free her boyfriend, Lindoro, who had been made a slave by the king of Algiers. The libretto deals with such universal and contemporary issues as interculturality and gender fights, in a chaotic atmosphere packed with beautiful and complex musical tessituras.

Nikolas Naegele, current Kappelmeister of the Deutsche Oper Berlin, makes his debut in Ópera de Tenerife with The Italian in Algiers. This new co-production with Teatro Comunale di Bologna has Giorgia Guerra as stage manager and takes place in a surrealist 1980s spa in Algiers, coupled with colourful and amusing costumes of the time.