L'ITALIANA IN ALGERI is an operatic dramma giocoso in two acts by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Angelo Anelli. Rossini composed L'italiana in Algeri when he was 21 in either 18 or 27 days, depending on which source one believes (Rossini, not surprisingly, pegged it at 18). 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. The plot, in brief: Isabella’s lover Lindoro has been kid...
