Giuseppe Maria Foppa

Early Rossini has a youthful, buoyant vibrancy about it, even in the dark swirls of drammi per musica like Sigismondo. The work, centered on a mad king and his delusions, was rarely played after its premiere in 1814. This performance marked the first from the critical new edition at the 2010 Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro and was hailed as a "perfect symbiosis of music and stage work" resulting in "truly brilliant theatre." Complete with a cast of sought-after Rossini singers, this is not to be missed.

"The Silken Ladder" - Dormont is the teacher and guardian of the beautiful Giulia, and he is determined that she will marry Blansac despite her continual rejection of his advances. The fact is that Giulia is already married to Blansac's friend Dorvil, who every night is able to exercise his conjugal rights because Giulia lowers a ladder made of silk down to him from her bedroom window.