La italiana en Argel 2019 © Municipal de Santiago

L’italiana in Algeri of Gioachino Rossini, is presented from October 5 to 11 at the Municipal de Santiago, with musical direction by maestro José Miguel Pérez-Sierra and scenic proposal by Chilean Rodrigo Navarrete. 

In L’italiana in Algeri, probably one of the first feminist operas, Isabella takes the reins of her destiny and travels to Algiers in search of her beloved, who has been kidnapped by Bey Mustafa. 

Considered by Stendhal as “the perfection of the bufo genre,” this work combines comedy with elements of serious opera, such as fidelity and patriotic sentimentality. Because of its abundance of rhythms, beautiful vocal games, fun and unexpected effects, and its delicate and effervescent orchestration, it is the creation that marks Rossini’s personal style and accounts for the exoticism prevailing in nineteenth-century Europe. It is a parody about the meeting of the East and West, but also about the confrontation between the feminine and the masculine. L’italiana in Algeri returns after 10 years to the Municipal de Santiago in a scenic proposal by Rodrigo Navarrete and with musical direction by José Miguel Pérez-Sierra. 

In the international cast, the mezzo-soprano Victoria Yarovaya plays Isabella, a role with which she has already performed at the Rennes Opera in France. On the other hand, the tenor Anton Rositskiy sings the role of Lindoro. In addition, the renowned Italian baritone Pietro Spagnoli personifies Mustafa, Bey de Algiers; Orhan Yildiz plays Taddeo, the national soprano Patricia Cifuentes plays Elvira, Cecilia Pastawski plays Zulma and, finally, the Chilean Patricio Sabaté personifies Haly, captain of the Bey pirates. 

La italiana en Argel 2019 © Municipal de Santiago

In the star cast, Evelyn Ramírez is Isabella, while Juan de Dios Mateos plays Lindoro, Ricardo Seguel plays Mustafa, Sergio Gallardo Taddeo, Marcela González a Elvira, Cecilia Barrientos a Zulma and Eleomar Cuello a Haly. 

The musical director, José Miguel Pérez-Sierra, declares that “the protagonist of this Rossini opera, Isabella, comes from the future. It is a character that does not exist prior to Rossini, who admires the intelligence of women in acting. She is a free woman in a time when women were not. ” 

In the case of staging, Rodrigo Navarrete clarifies that in this version “the assembly is completely new. Ten years have passed since the last time was presented L’italiana in Algeri in the Municipal de Santiago and in that time the world has changed. Topics that have emerged with great force such as feminism, immigration and inclusion are present in this opera. What I try to make humor of the situation, but with an important background ”.