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News and notes from the world of classical music.

L’Italiana in Algeri | The Metropolitan Opera

Met Opera's main characters on stage
Ken Howard
/
Metropolitan Opera
(l-r) Ying Fang as Elvira, Rene Barbera as Lindoro, Dwayne Croft as Haly, Marianna Pizzolatto as Isabella, Ildar Abdrazakov as Mustafà, Rihab Chaieb as Zulma, and Nicola Alaimo as Taddeo in Rossini's L'Italiana in Algeri."

Sat. Dec. 31 at 1 pm on WKAR Radio 90.5 FM| James Levine conducts this comedy of a feisty Italian girl turning the tables on her bumbling captors via Rossini’s blend of madness and fun.

One of Rossini’s earliest successes (written when he was 21), L’Italiana in Algeri is clearly the product of youthful vitality and charming irreverence. The score of this comic farce is a brilliant convergence of giddy madness and creative sophistication. The opportunities for comedy in the paradigmatic story are obvious, but the surprise is in the masterful way the music makes the situations come alive, and in the genuine human emotion of the characters.

Mezzo-soprano Marianna Pizzolato makes her Met debut in the title role, opposite tenor René Barbera and baritone Nicola Alaimo. Bass-baritone Ildar Abdrazakov plays the pasha who is overcome by love and pasta.

Live Metropolitan Opera Saturday radio broadcasts

Saturdays Dec. 3, 2016-May 13, 2017 on The Toll Brothers-Metropolitan Opera International Radio Network.

The Metropolitan Opera  broadcast season is sponsored by Toll Brothers, America's luxury home builder, with generous long-term support from the Annenberg Foundation and the Vincent A. Stabile Endowment for Broadcast Media.

Contents of the broadcast are copyrighted by The Metropolitan Opera, all rights are reserved, and any use or reproduction of any of the material therein without permission of The Metropolitan Opera is strictly prohibited and will be prosecuted.

www.metopera.org

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