La gazza ladra complete the composition of the opera. As such, "The Thieving Magpie" is best known for the overture, which is musically notable for its use of snare drums. The unique inspiration in the melodies is extreme, famously used to bizarre and dramatic effect in Stanley Kubrick's "A Clockwork Orange". It was referenced by Haruki Murakami in his work "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle.". This memorable section in Rossini's overture evokes the image of the opera's main subject: a devilishly clever, thieving magpie. The first performance of "The Thieving Magpie" was on 31 May 1817, at La Scala, Milan. In 1818, Rossini revised
Armida (Rossini) Armida (Rossini) Armida is an opera in three acts by Italian composer Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto ("dramma per musica") by Giovanni Schmidt, based on scenes from "Gerusalemme liberata" by Torquato Tasso. "Armida" was written to be performed at the Teatro di San Carlo, Naples, on 11 November 1817 to celebrate the opening of the rebuilt opera house, which had been destroyed by fire the previous year. Isabella Colbran sang the title role, which is one of the longest and most demanding that Rossini wrote, with difficult coloratura passages of every kind during the entire opera. The most notable