Overture to La Gazza Ladra
Giaochino Rossini
 
Gioachino Rossini was born in Pesaro, Italy, to a family of musicians. The beginnings of his musical career were shaped by his father’s lessons in music, performing duets with his mother, and accompanying her during her tours. In 1810, after receiving an education at the prestigious Bologna Accademia Filarmonica where he was taught by renowned scholars and inspired by the works of Mozart and Haydn, his repertoire graduated from counterpoint studies and solo works to what he’d become best known for–his operas. He composed 39 operas from age 18 to 37, performing them in Naples, Venice, Milan, and other opera houses across Europe.
 
Rossini, now age 25 and at the peak of his career, premiered La Gazza Ladra (The Thieving Magpie) in Milan in 1817. His two-act opera semiseria was an adaptation of the 1815 French rescue play, La Pie Voleuse, reworked by the librettist, Giovanni Gherardini for a libretto competition in which he did not win! After accepting the offer to compose the opera, leading Rossini scholar, Richard Osborne (2007), reports that Rossini told his mother, “I’m writing an opera called La Gazza Ladra… I’m being driven crazy; however, it’s a most beautiful subject and I hope (God willing) we’ll be able to create a Fine Fiasco.” The opera itself tells the story of a peasant girl, Ninetta, who is falsely accused of stealing a silver spoon, with the true culprit ultimately revealed to be a mischievous magpie, saving her from facing capital punishment.
 
The day before the premiere, he composed the opera’s overture, becoming one of Rossini’s most famous and celebrated works. The piece famously opens with a striking military-style snare drum solo, a reflection of the opera’s setting in a village impacted by the Napoleonic Wars. This leads into a stately introduction before launching into the main allegro section, characterized by rapid string passages, playful woodwinds, and triumphant features for the trombone. Throughout, Rossini’s signature crescendo builds excitement and tension. The infectious energy captures this blend of drama and light-hearted mischief with masterful pacing and colorful orchestration.
 
–Avery Robinson (MM ’26)
 
 
Ma Mère l’Oye (Mother Goose): 5 pièces enfantines (Suite)
Maurice Ravel
 
Maurice Ravel’s Ma Mère l’Oye (Mother Goose) is a work that resonates not only its atmospheric spectacle, but also Ravel’s sincerity. Firstly introduced began as a simple, heartfelt gesture, a piano duet composed in 1910 for the young children of his close friends. But what started as a private gift soon blossomed into one of Ravel’s most beloved orchestral works when he expanded and orchestrated it a year later. Inspired by classic fairy tales, mainly from Charles Perrault and the Brothers Grimm. Ravel wasn’t interested in telling these stories word for word. Instead, he focused on capturing the atmosphere, innocence, and gentle magic that lives in the world of childhood imagination.
 
The suite unfolds over five short movements, each evoking a different tale with vivid musical colors. A delicate Pavane opens the work with the soft stillness of Sleeping Beauty’s enchanted slumber. Tom Thumb wanders through a forest of fleeting, unsure melodies, while Laideronnette, Empress of the Pagodas bursts with exotic, bell-like textures that feel lifted from an Eastern dream. In Beauty and the Beast, a graceful waltz brings the characters to life, ending with the Beast’s transformation, and the final movement, The Fairy Garden, swells into a radiant, hopeful conclusion.
 
Ravel later expanded the suite into a full ballet, adding connecting interludes and a prelude to further enrich its narrative arc. But even in its original suite form, Ma Mère l’Oye reveals Ravel’s gift for refined orchestration and emotional nuance. Rather than overwhelming the listener with drama, the music invites us into a quieter, more introspective world, one that values imagination, sensitivity, and clarity of expression.
 
–Marcos Salgado (BM ’27)
 
 
Symphony No. 1 in C Major, op. 21
Ludwig van Beethoven
 
Although it was his first symphony, Ludwig van Beethoven’s career as a composer was already well established prior to the composition of Symphony No. 1 in C Major. The work came as a result of his time in Vienna studying with Haydn. The influence of Haydn, as well as Mozart, are evident in Beethoven’s work as he tackled the challenge of a symphony for the first time. Despite the mark of his predecessors being present in his music, Beethoven still made unique choices that started to define his personal symphonic style. One of those choices was the prominent use of the wind section, which was unusual for the time. Another creative decision was scoring the timpani during the slow andante movement.
 
Symphony No. 1 was received with nothing but praise from the public, further solidifying Beethoven’s reputation as a young genius. The composition was made during a sweet spot of innocence and hope in his life; just two years later he would begin to complain of hearing loss for the first time. He wrote a total of 9 symphonies, all within the span of 13 years. Departing from the simple beauty of Symphony No. 1, Beethoven explored his creativity with increasing gusto throughout the remainder of his life. Now considered one of the greatest composers in history, Beethoven’s astounding career and long-lasting impact can be traced back to his very first symphony. Completed in 1801, Symphony No. 1 in C Major is a pillar in the timeline of music history, marking not only the turn of the 19th century but also the transition from the Classical into the Romantic era.
 
–Evelyn Webber (MM ’25)