L'occasione Fa Il Ladro

Composed by the young Gioachino Rossini in eleven days to comply with a contractual commitment, L'occasione fa il ladro (Opportunity Makes a Thief) is a comedy of multiple confusions. Count Alberto, travelling to be wed to a fiance he has yet to meet, leaves an inn with the wrong suitcase. Don Parmenione audaciously adopts the Count's identity, determined to take the bride for himself. This single-act burletta is a swift and deftly plotted moral drama, Rossini's exuberant inspiration poured into interactions both tender and hilariously bewildering. Antonino Fogliani's many conducting engagements have taken him to leading international opera houses and concert halls. For Rossini in Wildbad he has directed Ciro in Babilonia, L'occasione fa il ladro, Mose in Egitto, La scala di seta, Il signor Bruschino and Otello, as well as Vaccaj's La sposa di Messina.