Mustafa Edik

Allah, gloire à Lui, a accordé au Prophète Muhammad (qu'Allah le bénisse et lui accorde la paix) d'être une éternelle miséricorde pour les êtres vivants et les matières inanimées, pour la poussière et les pierres, les fleuves et les mers, une bénédiction pour la terre aussi bien que pour les cieux, pour l'espace et le temps; mais en particulier pour les êtres humains, comme leur moyen infaillible pour atteindre le salut, l'orientation et la miséricorde. Il représente une telle miséricorde qu'il se révèle être le plus aimé d'Allah, le Miséricordieux et le Compatissant, celui qui a obtenu le don exclusif du Miraj, l'Ascension.

The plot concerns the feisty eponymous heroine Isabella. She has been sailing in the Mediterranean, accompanied by an elderly admirer Taddeo, in search of her lover Lindoro. After her ship is wrecked Mustafa, the Bey of Algiers, believes her the ideal replacement for his neglected wife who he intends to marry off to a captured slave, who happens to be Lindoro. Complicated situations ensue involving Taddeo being awarded the honour of Kaimakan and Mustafa in turn becoming a Pappataci, a spoof award invented by Isabella to keep him obeying her strict instructions. All ends well in a rousing finale with the Italians escaping from the clutches of the Bey.

The most comprehensive edition devoted to Gioachino Rossini marking his 150th anniversary. Born in 1792, Rossini was the most popular opera composer of his time. Although he retired from the Opera scene in 1829, he continued to compose in other genres, including sacred music, piano and chamber works. He did gather his late works under the ironic title Péchés de vieillesse (Sins of Old Age), which veils a true collection of masterworks.

Using the critical edition by Azio Corghi, this recording of L’Italiana in Algeri was made at a jubilee performance of the XXth Rossini in Wildbad Festival in 2008. For his tenth opera, the already celebrated 21-year-old Rossini wanted ‘a humorous libretto full of spectacle’. This spirited opera, completed in barely a month, scored an immediate hit and its manic atmosphere of ‘organized, total lunacy’, as Stendhal put it, has ensured its enduring popularity.