The SFO opened its fall season with Rossini’s 1813 light-weight, but engaging, comedy “L’Italiana in Algeri” (“The Italian Girl in Algiers”). During the seventeenth century the Ottoman Empire posed a severe threat to Europe, but by Rossini’s day its power had waned so it was safe to make light of it. Yet Europeans remained fascinated by its exotic world, especially the inner workings of the harem.

The piece is a “rescue opera”—sort of a frothy “Fidelio.” Mustafa, the Turkish governor of Algiers, is tired of his wife and wants to add a passionate Italian girl to his harem. When Isabella, in search of her lover Lindoro (who is now Mustafa’s slave), gets stranded in Algeria and is captured by Mustafa’s men, the Turk is overjoyed. The shrewd Isabella, however, easily outfoxes him as she and Lindoro escape back to Italy.

Olga Borodina sang Isabella in the first few performances, but American mezzosoprano Vivica Genaux (SFO debut) later took over the role. A specialist in baroque opera, Ms. Genaux has a light but very agile voice. She sang Isabella’s intricate arias effortlessly, yet was still able to project some strong sustained dark tones. However in the ensembles her small-scale voice was often lost, offering little vocal presence. One missed the smoky rich tones of a larger voice. She is a natural actress and a beautiful young woman, so it made sense that she could reduce the pompous Mustafa to an obedient lap dog. But in the final analysis, her Isabella lacked charisma. She was more good-naturedly spunky than connivingly shrewd.

As Lindoro, tenor William Burden had good looks and energetic acting going for him. But he was overly taxed by the music (at the verge of cracking several times) and too often sang with a colorless bleaty tone. Though energetic, he never really got into his role. He seemed like a clean-cut high school football hero-type from Kansas, hardly someone that the clever Isabella would find interesting. Bass Dean Peterson (SFO debut) was the star of the show as the smitten Mustafa. He sang well, but it was his acting that stole the evening as he pranced around the stage like a love-sick puppy. If everyone performed at his level, we’d have had quite a show.

In the small role of Isabella’s friend Taddeo, Ricardo Herrera stood out. His modest but smooth bass-baritone coped well with the music, and his acting was outstanding. He practically turned Taddeo into a major character.

Robert Wood conducted with grace and verve. While building Rossini’s famous crescendos excitingly, he also emphasized the elegant lyricism of much of this score. At times the music sang as though it were by Mozart.

The simple sets, from the Santa Fe Opera, consisted mostly of a series of colorful ornate arches flanked by some palms. The action was moved forward by about a century to around 1920, the period of the disintegration of the Ottoman Empire. Rather than being shipwrecked, Isabella was stranded when her plane crashed in the desert. This change did no harm to the opera, but it didn’t help it much either. The Turkish costumes, of course, were gorgeous. Rossini’s bubbly little comedy got the season off to a respectable, but not memorable, start.

- Opera photos credited to Terrence McCarthy