The Thieving Magpie Overture (Rossini)
Movements
Notes
La Gazza Ladra (The Thieving Magpie) is a two act opera by Italian composer Gioachino Rossini. The libretto by Giovanni Gherardini was based on the 1815 comedy La Pie Voleuse by JMT Badouin d’Aubigny and Louis-Charles Caigniez. The story tells of a maid who almost goes to the gallows for stealing silver, before it is discovered that the culprit was a magpie, which had been thieving and hiding items in the church tower.
The opera is best known for its overture, which is notable for its arresting beginning with several consecutive military snare drum rolls. Rossini was a quick writer and he needed to be for this piece. It was reported that the composer was locked in a room writing the overture the day before his semi-seria opera was due to be premiered at La Scala in Milan. He then threw each sheet out of the window to his copyists, who wrote out the full orchestral parts.
