Overture (La scala di seta)

La scala di seta is a one-act farsa comica first performed at the Teatro San Moisè in Venice on 9 May 1812, Rossini's third commission for that small theatre. Giuseppe Foppa adapted the libretto from Planard's French comedy about a secret marriage and the silk ladder that gives the husband nightly access to his wife's room. The opera itself is rarely staged, but the overture — thin scoring, a scampering string figure, wind writing that keeps stepping out of line — entered the concert repertoire on its own and has stayed there ever since.