The Italian Girl in Algiers by Rossini, No (2022/2022), Režisēja Ekaterina Malaya, Diriģents Valery Gergiev, Mariinsky Theatre, Saint Petersburg, Russia

By the will of the sea and by the whim of the Bey of Algiers, the beautiful Italian Isabella was captured. But the temperamental beauty is not in the habits of submitting to fate and men: she easily wraps two admirers around her finger in order to reunite with a third, at the same time saving a married couple from divorce and many compatriots from slavery. Here is the character! Gioacchino Rossini gave the lead role in his first full-scale opera buffa The Italian Girl in Algiers (1813) to his favorite voice - the coloratura contralto - and to his beloved woman (more precisely, one of them), the magnificent Marietta Marcolini. The sound of a deep and juicy timbre in the part, replete with fantastically virtuoso fioritures, conquers already from Isabella's first cavatina - Cruda sorte, and enchanting ensembles and the proud patriotic rondo Pensa alla patria are ahead. Rossini is no less generous with regard to other soloists: for the bass cantante, agile and melodious, he wrote the most difficult part of the fooled bey Mustafa, for the tenor di grazia - the luxurious part of Lindoro, full of high notes, with a wonderful exit aria Languir per una bella, preceded by an elegiac horn solo. Other heroes also have spectacular numbers, but when they gather in ensembles, the score begins to sparkle in such a way that it captures the spirit, especially in the famous finale of the first act - with its onomatopoeic leapfrog “ding-ding! boom! bang bang! kar-kar!": truly, as Stendhal said, organized perfect madness! By bringing soloists to the forefront, Rossini made his opera also crowded: it is populated by singing concubines and eunuchs, corsairs and Janissaries, Berbers and Italians. “But the blue evening is already getting dark, it’s time for us to go to the opera soon, there is the delightful Rossini ...” The advice of the classic is definitely worth following! Christina Batyushina