The Thieving Magpie (album) The Thieving Magpie (album) The Thieving Magpie (La Gazza Ladra) is a double live album by the British neo-progressive rock band Marillion. It was named after the introductory piece of classical music the band used before coming on stage during the "Clutching at Straws" tour 1987–1988, the overture to Rossini's opera "La gazza ladra", which translates as "The Thieving Magpie". The album was released shortly after singer Fish's departure from the band (and before Steve Hogarth's arrival) and was intended to document the "Fish years". It complements the band's first live album "Real to Reel" insofar as there are no
Opera house as wealthy patrons and it continues to have a large number of working opera houses such as Teatro Massimo in Palermo (the biggest in Italy), Teatro di San Carlo in Naples (the world's oldest working opera house) and Teatro La Scala in Milan. In contrast, there was no opera house in London when Henry Purcell was composing and the first opera house in Germany was built in Hamburg in 1678. In the 17th and 18th centuries, opera houses were often financed by rulers, nobles, and wealthy people who used patronage of the arts to endorse their political ambition and social