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.
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