Rossini's opera The Thieving Magpie combines gripping drama with subtle humor. The moving story of the maid Ninetta, who innocently finds herself in mortal danger, unfolds between tragedy and comedy.
Things are getting serious for Ninetta. She has just finished picking strawberries, eagerly anticipating the return of her beloved from the war. His parents, to whom Ninetta is obliged as a maid, are preparing a big party, but suddenly she is accused of stealing silver cutlery. The death penalty, which the Podestà, the mayor of the small village, hands down for the theft, breaks into Ninetta's tidy and amorous mood in an unbelievably real way. Far from any evidence or even a fair trial, he has only one questionable lifeline in store for her.
The somewhat belittling title The Thieving Magpie belies the dramatic material that the 25-year-old Gioachino Rossini created for the opera stage, both in terms of content and music. Nevertheless, as is so often the case in the theater (and in life), tragedy and comedy go hand in hand. The model for this "Semiseria" was the play La Pie voleuse ou La Servante de Palaiseau by Jean-Marie-Théodore Baudouin d'Aubigny and Louis-Charles Caigniez, based on a "true story", which in 1815 served the fashion for boulevard theater that was just emerging in Paris - the reality shows of the early 19th century, so to speak.
Premiere December 6, 2025
Further performances: December 10, 16 and 20, 2025, January 3 and 16, February 1, March 6, 2026
