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===== Italian Girl in Algiers =====
This was an absolutely delightful opera. We had great seats in Row D, seats 107 and 108 which was in the middle.  We have seen this done campy style so we knew what we were in for.  This did not disappoint.  the singing of course was outstanding.  One in particular, a guy who could sing and do some campy acting was great.  He could the loudest cheer at the end.\\

There were too many trios, quartets and sextets to count in addition to the chorus.  There were some funny moments involving the chorus as well as once they were going up and down and another time doing a sort of wave.  It got great laughs.  We had a young conductor, Rienzi was schmoozing in the audience with the Opening night crowd.  The crowd was decked out in tuxes and jewels.  One couple  in particular was a young guy with a silk scarf and a gorgeous young woman in a beautiful designer dress and well coiffed hair.  It was absolutely exquisite.\\

**Sarasota Opera presents something familiar in its first 'Italian Girl'**\\
By Jay Handelman\\ 
Arts editor \\

If it weren't for the popularity of Gioachino Rossini's "The Barber of Seville" and "La Cenerentola," Sarasota Opera might have produced his "The Italian Girl in Algiers" years ago.

"They are so famous that they have tended to overshadow everything else he has done," said Anthony Barrese, who will conduct the Sarasota Opera's first production of "The Italian Girl," which opens Saturday.

The opera, which had its premiere in Venice in 1813, was always "very popular," Barrese said, but "Barber" grew to become one of the most popular operas in the world, one of the handful that "will sell out no matter what," and opera companies tend to keep returning to those hits to keep audiences happy.

"Everything else is a crapshoot," Barrese said.

Even though it may be new to Sarasota Opera audiences, there is a lot in "The Italian Girl" that will seem familiar to those experiencing it for the first time, he said.

'The Italian Girl in Algiers'
The Rossini opera opens at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and will also be performed at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 23, March 3, 8 and 18 and 1:30 p.m. Feb. 26 and March 25 at the Sarasota Opera House, 61 N. Pineapple Ave., Sarasota. For more information: 941-328-1300; sarasotaopera.org
"People want to hear music that reminds them of something that they know. If you know 'Barber' well, you'll recognize musical and situational ideas here," Barrese said.

Stage director Mark Freiman, who has sung with Sarasota Opera in years past, said "The Italian Girl" also is "a great first opera for people who have never been to the opera. It's very accessible, the characters are relatable, the music is fun and ..."

"And it's funny," Barrese interrupts. "It's very funny, dramatically funny and musically funny."

Tara Venditti, who has sung in opera houses around the world, including La Scala, stars as Isabella, a woman who makes the best out of any situation. Her beloved Lindoro has been captured by Mustafa, the Bey of Algiers (a local governor), when he shipwrecks off the coast. Isabella heads out looking for Lindoro, thinking he has been lost at sea, when she shipwrecks at the same point in Algeria.

"She's a stranger in a strange land," the effervescent singer said. "She's coming into a different society and different hierarchies and gender positions, but she doesn't care. She throws caution to the wind. I'm a woman who always wins with men and I'm going to stop being afraid and just watch me whip them into shape."

If she were directing a theatrical version of the story, "I might cast someone like Rita Moreno or Fran Drescher. There is a certain amount of spunkiness to her," Venditti said. "That makes me laugh. I personally may be accused of being spunky, even in my private life."

She mentions Drescher because of her role in the popular sitcom "The Nanny."

"You only had to see Fran walk into a situation once and everything would fall together for her. That's Isabella. She jumps into a dangerous situation and makes light of it. I'm not going to let it bother me and I'm going to make the best of it," Venditti said.

Venditti stars with returning Sarasota Opera artist Hak Soo Kim as Lindoro, Bruno Taddia as Taddeo and Harold Wilson as Mustafa.

With 54 roles in her repertoire, Venditti said she is excited to add a new one. It's been almost a decade since she last performed in a Rossini opera, as Rosina in "The Barber of Seville."

"That kind of singing requires an immense amount of fitness inside the vocal mechanism," she said. "I have to hand it to my colleagues. Every single one of the people I'm working with, from the largest role to the smallest, is virtuosic."

And she said audiences are going to love the music. "It is so wonderful. You can't get around the fact that it's really good music. I think once people see it, it's a piece they will look forward to seeing again."

Freiman said his background as a singer, including many comedic roles, helps in the staging, in finding the balance between allowing the singers to hit the notes and conveying the characters and building the comedic timing necessary.

"Even in dramatic operas like 'La Boheme' there is comic relief in some ways. This is not that different. Rossini called it a 'dramma giocoso,' a drama with jokes. The main thing is to keep it real and start with the feelings of the characters. It's about love and longing, summoning the inner strength when it's needed the most, inspiring others and being a leader. A lot of the humor comes naturally out of that. In life, funny things happen. It might be exaggerated more but it all has to grow out of the core drama."

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