L'Italiana in Algeri
In HD, Opera in Two Acts
Teatro Comunale di Bologna – Bologna, Italy
Music by: Giacomo Rossini
Sung in Italian with English Subtitles
Distributor: Opera in Cinema – Emerging Pictures
Release Date/Time/Theater: Sunday, October 14, 2012
11:00 a.m. – BIG Cinemas Manhattan Theater–239 East 59th
11:00 a.m. – Chelsea Clearview – 260 West 23rd
Running Time: 150 minutes
Conductor: Paolo Olmi
Director and Costume Design: Francesco Esposito
Assistant Conductor: Gianni Marras
Lighting Design: Andrea Oliva
Chorus Master: Lorenzo Fratini
Cast:
Mustafa: Michele Pertusi
Elvira: Anna Maria Serra
Zulma: Giuseppina Bridelli
Haly: Alessandro Busi
Isabella: Marianna Pizzolato
Lindoro: Edgardo Rocha
Taddeo: Paolo Bordogna
Orchestra and Chorus of the Teatro Comunale di Bologna
Production: Teatro Comunale di Bologna
Captured live in performance, May, 2012
In Algiers at the palace of the bey Mustafa, his wife Elvira complains that her husband no longer loves her; Mustafa wishes to sell her for marriage to one of his courtiers, a young kidnapped Italian, Lindoro, who in turn longs for his beloved Isabella. Isabella and her aging admirer, Taddeo, are cast ashore from a shipwreck and fall into the hands of the pirate Haly. Back at the palace, Lindoro agrees to marry Elvira solely so he can return home to Italy. Isabella is welcomed to the palace and Mustafa is immediately infatuated; she and Lindoro, still in love, spot each other.
Hoping to regain her husband's love, Elvira is advised by Isabella on how to keep Mustafa's attention. In the palace hallway, Mustafa runs into Lindoro who assures him that Isabella has affections for him, but that he must prove his worth by entering the Italian order of Papptaci which requires him to eat, drink and sleep all he likes. In on the ruse, Isabella readies a feast for Mustafa. As he eats, Isabella and Lindoro sneak away, effectively giving Mustafa back to Elvira.
