La Gazza Ladra (Overure) - Rossini

Rossini's La Gazza Ladra (The Thieving Magpie) is a melodrama or 'opera semiseria' in two acts by with a libretto by Giovanni Gherardini based on La pie voleuse by Jean-Marie-Theodor Badouin d'Aubigny and Louis-Charles Caigniez. La Gazza Ladra is best known for the overture, which is musically notable for its use of snare drums. The unique inspiration in the melodies is extreme and invokes the image of the opera's main subject: a clever, devilishly thieving magpie.