Among Rossini's operas Adina has perhaps the most mysterious origins. Commissioned by an unknown Portuguese admirer as a gift for an unknown soprano, composed in 1818 yet not performed until 1826, the opera develops the popular theme of the "abduction from the serraglio." Rossini, pressed by the contract to complete the work quickly, composed anew only four of the work's nine numbers: the Introduction, the disarming Cavatina Adina "Fragolette fortunate" (Lucky little strawberries), the Quartet, and the Finale; for three others he turned to his own Sigismondo of 1814; the remaining two were written by a collaborator.

The critical edition, the first publication in full score, draws on the autograph of Sigismondo and Rossini's drafts for setting the new texts as well as the autograph of Adina. In his preface discussing Adina's uncertain genesis and successive history, Fabrizio Della Seta examines the documents extant in Portugal and Italy and considers hypotheses about the identity of the commissioner, the dedicatee, and the collaborator.