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
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