QPAC

The Italian Woman comes to QPAC in 2027

Rossini’s masterfully comic opera originally known as The Italian Girl in Algiers (L’italiana in Algeri) will be brought into the 21st century with a strong heroine at its centre.

Headlining Opera Queensland’s Brisbane Bel Canto festival, The Italian Woman stars acclaimed Russian-Swiss mezzo soprano Nadezhda Karyazina as Isabella.

Hailed as “one of the most significant singers and performers of our time”, Nadezhda arrives in Brisbane following a triumphant performance at the 2025 Salzburg Easter Festival, earning her the prestigious Herbert von Karajan Prize.

Taken prisoner by the powerful Mustafà, Isabella must outwit the men who would possess her and find a way home.

This is Rossini in full flight. Queensland Symphony Orchestra and nineteen extraordinary voices on stage, tearing into one of opera’s greatest comic scores with all the virtuosity, speed and exhilaration it demands.

What begins as a concert starts to fracture as the darker world rumbling beneath Rossini’s comedy erupts into the present.

Brisbane Bel Canto Festival is presented with the support of Philip Bacon and Haymans Electrical.