The Italian Girl in Algiers was the second of Rossini's works to achieve great success. It was produced in Venice in 1813. The opera is notable for Rossini’s mixing of opera seria style with opera buffa. Although the complete opera is scarcely performed, the overture is still widely recorded and played. It is known for its distinct opening of slow, quiet woodwinds in imitation of pizzicato strings, leading to a sudden loud burst of sound from the full ensemble. This “surprise” reflects Rossini’s early admiration for Franz Joseph Haydn, whose Symphony No. 94 in G Major, “The Surprise Symphony,” is named for the same shocking, semi-comic effect.

The story line goes as follows: The Dey of Algiers is bent on capturing the heart of Isabella, the beautiful Italian girl found on an abandoned vessel by the Dey's Captain of Corsairs. The Dey has a difficult problem ridding himself of his wife, Elvira, but he believes he has solved it by his plan to marry her off to Lindoro, Isabella's fiancé. Elvira, proving herself the wilier, manages to arrange the escape of Isabella and Lindoro from the Dey's domains and at the same time retain the affection of her unsuspecting spouse.