In early 1981 she returned to the Sanremo Music Festival with the song "Per Elisa", composed by Bissi herself, Franco Battiato and his longtime co-writer, classical violinist Giusto Pio. The song was both lyrically and musically a modern paraphrase of Ludwig van Beethoven's "Für Elise" but it was by no means an archetypal sentimental Sanremo ballad. The rough rock track had lyrics which dealt with jealousy, betrayal, anger and revenge. For the live performance at the contest Bissi made full use of her vocal strength and range; one of the singer's trademarks is the exceptionally low register of her contralto voice, "Per Elisa" is also partly sung in falsetto and thus covers close to four octaves. The unorthodox Sanremo entry and Bissi's delivery of the song dressed in tight jeans and a leather jacket made a strong impression on both the juries and the TV audiences; "Per Elisa" won the contest, becoming one of the first up-tempo rock tracks to do so and it became Bissi's commercial breakthrough, not only in Italy but also in the rest of Continental Europe, becoming a Top 10 hit also in Switzerland and Austria and most other parts of Western Europe, including Scandinavia. An album titled "Alice" followed a few months later (released as "Per Elisa" outside Italy) including follow-up single "Una notte speciale" ("A Special Night") and the same year Bissi set out on her first European tour.