The Institute is delighted to start an exciting and prestigious collaboration with the celebrated Rossini Opera Festival of Pesaro. The screenings of Gioachino Rossini’s wonderful works will be introduced by Deirdre O’Grady, UCD Emeritus Professor of Italian and Comparative Studies and will start on November 3rd with L’Italiana in Algeri.
Giovedì all’Opera - L’Italiana in Algeri
Director: Davide Livermore. Conductor: José Ramón Encinar with Anna Goryachova, Alex Esposito, Yijie Shi, Mario Cassi, 153’
Introduction by Deirdre O’Grady, film in Italian with English subtitles.
Pirates, shipwreck, and the triumph of feminine guile and coquetry over male chauvinism all combined to make Rossini’s tenth opera. The protagonist Isabella is a sparkling reflection of eighteenth-century refinement, married to a new freedom of musical and dramatic expression. The new buffo style - ‘organized lunacy’ in the words of Stendhal, provides entertainment through a varied range of emotions.
Operatic patriotism makes a discreet appearance.