SALZBURG WHITSUN FESTIVAL - L`italiana in Algeri

L`italiana in Algeri
Gioachino Rossini

Dramma giocoso in two acts (1813)

Libretto by Angelo Anelli after his libretto for the eponymous opera (1808) by Luigi Mosca

Sung in Italian with German and English surtitles

New production


CREATIVE TEAM

Jean-Christophe Spinosi, Conductor
Moshe Leiser, Patrice Caurier, Director
Christian Fenouillat, Sets
Agostino Cavalca, Costumes
Christophe Forey, Lighting
Christian Arseni, Dramaturgy
Walter Zeh, Chorus Master

CAST

Cecilia Bartoli, Isabella
Peter Kálmán, Mustafà
Edgardo Rocha, Lindoro
Alessandro Corbelli, Taddeo
José Coca Loza, Haly
Rebeca Olvera, Elvira
Rosa Bove, Zulma

Philharmonia Chor Wien
Ensemble Matheus

ABOUT THE PRODUCTION

Mustafà, the Bey of Algiers, is fed up with his wife and resolves to discard her for someone with more exotic charms: an attractive Italian girl would be just the ticket. On cue, his pirates intercept the shipwrecked Isabella, who has come looking for her lover, Lindoro. Does a future beckon as the star of Mustafà’s harem? The feisty Isabella is not so easily fazed, and her very first encounter with the sex-hungry Bey confirms her in her tried and tested strategy: coquetry and flattery are her weapons of choice. Soon, a disoriented Mustafà is all at sea. Smug machismo and emancipatory insubordination intersect at the heart of this equally comical and bizarre plot, in which two alien cultures also surprise each other with some strange rituals. In this way a dubious Oriental title is foisted upon one of the Italians, who for their part initiate Mustafà into a fellowship devoted to eating, drinking and sleeping. The real joke, however, lies in the music: L’italiana in Algeri (1813) marks the first full blossom of Rossini’s comic genius, at its most irresistible in moments like the finale of Act I, when the utterly bewildered characters stiffen into marionettes, becoming cogs in an electrifying machinery of rhythm and sound. Stendhal aptly called this music ‘organized and complete madness’.

L`italiana in Algeri
Gioachino Rossini

Dramma giocoso in two acts (1813)

Libretto by Angelo Anelli >> Read more

The Small Festival Hall in Hofstallgasse served as a venue for smaller operas and plays for eighty years. It was built by Clemens Holzmeister, who was also responsible for the construction of the Large Festival Hall.
The building was adapted several times since it first opened in 1925. The auditorium was turned by 180 degrees in 1937, making it necessary to enlarge the stage. The auditorium had a length of 55 meters.
After Austria was annexed by the Third Reich in 1930, the frescoes by Anton Faistauer, the mosaics by Anton Kolig and the sculptures by Jakob Adlhart were considered to be `degenerate art.` Clemens Holzmeister was no longer politically opportune so that the `Reich stage designer` Benno von Arent was commissioned to carry out the next adaptation. He replaced the wood paneling with a gold-decorated plaster ceiling.
The first performance was `Der Rosenkavalier` by Richard Strauss, conducted by Karl Böhm in 1939.
Unfavorable visibility and acoustics necessitated another alteration in 1962/63. The Salzburg architects Hans Hofmann and Erich Engels gave the hall the appearance that it maintained until August 31, 2004.

House for Mozart
The former royal stables were last adapted as a `House for Mozart` from 2003 until 2006 (Mozart year) by architect Wilhelm Holzbauer, one of Clemens Holzmeister`s students, and the Luxembourg architect François Valentiny. The three entrance portals were designed by the artist Josef Zenzmaier, the German artist, Michael Hammers, was commissioned to design and install the `Golden Wall` in the foyer. Mozart`s Le Nozze di Figaro, conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt, was performed at the festive opening.
The House for Mozart can accommodate 1,580 people (seating for 1,495 and standing room for 85). The Felsenreitschule and `House for Mozart` can be used at the same time.