A masterpiece in a hurry
"I thought the Venetians would think I was crazy after hearing my operas. Now it turns out that they are even crazier than I am," was Rossini's comment on the sensational success of his dramma giocoso L'Italiana in Algeri at its premiere at the Teatro San Benedetto in May 1813. The 21-year-old already had some experience as an opera composer, having written five operas in 1812 alone.

However, he had only experienced his breakthrough a few months earlier with Tancredi at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, a success that was repeated four weeks later in Ferrara. When Rossini returned to Venice from there, he was already impatiently awaited by the impresario Cesare Gallo, who had run into difficulties due to the delay of a planned premiere and asked Rossini for help. The libretto L'Italiana in Algeri by Angelo Anelli, which had already been set to music once before, was an obvious choice of subject matter, especially as oriental themes had promised certain success since Napoleon's Egyptian expedition. (Incidentally, the plot of the opera is said to be based on a true story of a Milanese woman kidnapped by pirates who was allowed to return home from the court of the Bey of Algiers in 1808)
According to the Venetian Giornale, Rossini is said to have composed the opera in 27 days; the correspondent of the Leipziger Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung reported that the composer had told him that he had needed 18 days for the Italiana. There was certainly a need for haste, as there was only just over a month between Rossini's return from Ferrara and the premiere, and the work still had to be rehearsed during this time.