Music and Vinyl: Rossini - The Thieving Magpie

La Gazza Ladra - The Thieving Magpie - is an opera semiseria in two acts first performed at La Scala Milan in May 1817, and though rarely performed today it's overture remains popular along with a great many of Rossini's other overtures.

Pierino Gamba

The notes from the album cover about the music are given below, but a word or two about the conductor of this recording are in order. Piero Gamba (called Pierino in his younger days) was that rare phenomenon - a child conducting prodigy. He was born on Beethoven's birthday (17th December) in 1936 and made his public conducting debut with the Rome Opera Orchestra in 1945. A rare movie clip from 1948 shows Gamba in action.

In 1948 Gamba made his British debut at the Harringay Music Festival in North London, and details about the event and newspaper clippings from the time are available in this report. It's interesting to note that the young conductor had a reception akin to that of modern pop stars.

Twelve years later (aged 24), Gamba was back in London - five miles from Harringay at Walthamstow Town Hall - recording this disc of Rossini overtures with the London Symphony Orchestra for Decca. The Allmusic.com review of this record notes that:

[The] "recording clarity coupled with the fiery direction of conductor Piero Gamba yields Rossini overtures performed with a level of conviction and enthusiasm not frequently encountered. As these works are performed and recorded so frequently, it is too often the case that orchestras are simply going through the motions of playing the notes. Gamba and the LSO emphasize dynamic nuance, shifting textures, and decisive articulation to produce an exciting musical experience even to listeners who may have heard these pieces thousands of times before."