Opera Club to screen ‘L’italiana In Algeri’
Everyone is invited to watch Rossini’s “L’italiana In Algeri,” or “The Italian Girl in Algiers,” at 1:30 p.m. on June 6 and 7 in Clubhouse 3. Opera Club member Janice Berliner will introduce this comic opera that portrays a young woman in a clash of cultures that has delighted audiences for 200 years. The production opens with Rossini’s magnificent overture, which has been hummed or whistled by countless fans from its inception to the present day. Act 1 introduces Mustafa, a ruler in Algeria who is planning to shed his wife, Elvira, by marrying her off to his young Italian manservant Lindoro, then ordering his pirate chief Halmy to find him a replacement. When Halmy’s pirates bring in an Italian girl named Isabella as a prize, she immediately recognizes that the departing Lindoro is actually her long-lost love.
In Act 2, Isabella and Lindoro rediscover each other and make a plan to escape while Isabella’s guardian, Taddeo, is appointed a Kaimakam, a protector of the local folks’ eating, drinking and sleeping. But Isabella stages a ceremony to induct Mustafa into the newly formed society to partake of the ritualized eating and drinking, whereby she manages to escape with Lindoro by ship, leaving Mustafa to take back Elvira.
The production is in Italian, but there are English subtitles. People are cautioned to wear masks while indoors for safety. No dues or fees will be collected.
For more information, contact club President Beverly Emus at (562) 296-5586 or Beverly90740@gmail.com. —Sylvan Von Burg
