- Rossini’s two-act “opera semiseria,” The Thieving Magpie, premiered at La Scala in Milan in 1817. The libretto, written by Giovanni Gherardini, was based on the 1815 French play La pie voleuse by J. M. T. Badouin d’Aubigny and Louis-Charles Caigniez.1
- Brief synopsis of the opera:
- “The Thieving Magpie… deals with a little servant girl, Ninetta, who is condemned to die for the theft of a silver spoon. Only her father can prove that she is innocent, and he is not to be found. Just in time, her pet magpie is discovered as the thief who removed the spoon.”2
- Fun fact (or stress-dream-eliciting fact?): Rossini wrote the overture to The Thieving Magpie at the theater on the day of the opera’s premiere.
Sources
- Richard Osborne, “Gazza ladra, La,” Grove Music Online (2002), accessed October 12, 2026, https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/display/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-5000002717.
- Robert Turner, “Overture to La gazza ladra,” LA Phil, accessed October 12, 2026, https://www.laphil.com/works/overture-to-la-gazza-ladra.
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