La Gazza Ladra (The Thieving Magpie): Overture

LA GAZZA LADRA (THE THIEVISH MAGPIE), an opera buffa in two acts by Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868), was given its premier performance at La Scala, Milan, on May 31, 1817; about fourteen months after the debut of his THE BARBER OF SEVILLE. Even though the plot is complicated in the manner of the period, Rossini and his librettist, Gherardini, had fashioned a 'book' with many fresh touches. The lecherous old mayor; the falsely accused maiden in the clutches of despair - these and many other characterizations were to become stock figures in comic operas of a later period. The main novelty, however, was the inclusion of a pet magpie who was the real culprit and, through whose mischievous thievery of household effects, placed others in jeopardy. One revealing historical sidelight is the fact that Mozart's librettist, Lorenzo da Ponte, used LA GAZZA LADRA to inaugurate the first theatre in New York devoted only to the presentation of opera. The opera remained popular in New York until the 1890's, at which time the Bel Canto school yielded to the new 'Verismo' school. The overture has remained a staple of the symphonic orchestra repertory since the time it was composed. This edition is arranged for military band by Thomas Conway Brown.