Gioachino Rossini was born in Pesaro, Italy, on February 29, 1792, and died in Passy, France, on November 13, 1868. The first performance of La scala di seta took place at the Teatro San Moisè in Venice, Italy on May 9, 1812. Approximate performance time is six minutes.

Gioachino Rossini’s one-act comic opera, La scala di seta (The Silken Ladder), premiered at the Teatro San Moisè in Venice on May 9, 1812. The Italian libretto, by Giuseppe Maria Foppa, was based upon the French text, L’échelle de soie, written by Eugène de Planard for an 1808 opera by Pierre Gaveaux. In the narrative, Giulia, ward of Dormont, is secretly married to Dorvil. In order to see his wife every night, Dorvil ascends a silken ladder to her room.

La Scala di seta enjoyed only a modest success; due, in part, to the opera’s libretto. Foppa’s text was criticized both for a lack of inspiration, and for its similarity to a popular opera of the day, Domenico Cimarosa’s Il matrimonio segreto. Rossini himself is credited with writing the following letter to the impresario at the Teatro San Moisè: “Giving me the libretto entitled La scala di seta to set to music, you treated me like a child; in causing you to have a fiasco, I have repaid you with interest. Now we are even.” The authenticity of this letter is disputed.

Although Rossini’s complete opera La scala di seta is rarely performed, the charming Overture has long been a concert hall favorite. It demonstrates that Rossini, at the age of 20, already possessed the wit and creativity that would soon make him the most celebrated opera composer of his day.