When 21-year-old Gioacchino Rossini composed L'Italiana in Algeri in 1813, he already had ten operas to his credit. It was, however, this delightful east-meets-West romp, reportedly composed in eighteen days, that brought the relatively unknown composer to fame.
This winter, the Washington Opera revived its sparkling production of Rossini's first comic masterpiece. Under the imaginative direction of Leon Major, who had staged the first presentation of the production in 1984-85, L'Italiana in Algeri came vividly to life, demonstrating that in the right hands the tradition of grand opera buffa can still enthrall twentieth-century audiences and give them a rollicking good time. The director chose to update the setting from Rossini's time to the 1920s, a decision that paid off in making the story of the spirited heroine all the more relevant to contemporary viewers.
The company formed a refreshingly unified, balanced, and dynamic ensemble. Musically, conductor Joseph Rescigno appeared highly sensitive to his singers, who, while perhaps lacking the technical bravado of some who have sung these roles, nevertheless succeeded in bringing Rossini's demanding score across with musical panache and wit. It is unusual to find an entire ensemble of opera performers who can both sing and act effectively. The most rewarding aspect of the Washington Opera production of L'Italiana in Algeri was discovering how expertly balanced these two vital aspects of opera performance were.
Returning in the leading roles of the indomitable Isabella and the lascivious Bey of Algiers were Mimi Lerner and François Loup, both highly gifted at comedy. The story gives an interesting twist to the traditional damsel-in-distress plot. The heroine, searching for her lost fiancé, is shipwrecked and brought to the harem of Mustafa the Bey, who has tired of his submissive wife and yearns to tame a fiery Italian. Discovering her lover is a slave in the palace, the resourceful Isabella uses her feminine wiles to enslave the Bey, and maneuvers an escape not only for herself and her fiancé but for all the other Italian slaves as well.
Mimi Lerner brought considerable dimension as well as comic genius to her role. Her Isabella is not only commanding and worldly-wise, but also warm and generous, genuinely noble, and always brimming with mischief. Lerner's voice may have been somewhat indistinct in some of the more intricate coloratura passages, but there was great expressiveness in her singing. Her presence filled the hall; she is a very giving performer.
Basso buffo François Loup is a master of the broad gesture, a clown in the best tradition. He made the pompous, foolish Bey a likeable character, bringing many fine comic touches to his performance. His imaginative handling of the plateful of spaghetti in the last act was the best thing since Chaplin's potato dance and shoe-supper in The Gold Rush. His voice, like Lerner's, is not large, but it is full of buoyancy and expressiveness. He is the quintessential Mustafa.
Jan Opalach as the cowardly Taddeo showed a fine comic flair, reminiscent of early film comedian Joe E. Brown. He also had a firm command of the music, singing with agility and verve. Gordon Hawkins, who appeared as Haly, had the largest voice in the cast and occasionally overshadowed his fellows, but his vocal production was also crystal clear and
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