L'occasione fa il ladro

L’occasione fa il ladro, ossia Il cambio della valigia (Opportunity Makes a Thief, or The Exchanged Suitcase) is an opera (burletta per musica or farsa) in one act by Gioachino Rossini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Prividali, based on Le prétendu par hasard, ou L’occasion fait le larron, an 1810 vaudeville by Eugène Scribe.

19th century

L’occasione fa il ladro was first performed at the Teatro San Moisè, Venice, on 24 November 1812. Of the five one-act operas that he wrote for the theatre, this was the one performed most often during the composer’s lifetime but it was neglected after his death. There was, however, a revival at Pesaro in 1892 celebrating the hundredth anniversary of his birth there on 29 February 1792, with Alessandro Bonci.

20th century and beyond

The opera was given at the Théâtre Nouveau in Nice in 1983 and, in 1987, presented at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro, directed by Jean-Pierre Ponnelle, where it was recorded. In the same year, it was given at the Buxton Festival. In addition it was "revived at the Macerata Opera (1992), in Paris, in Cologne and in the Schlosstheater Schwetzingen".

In April 1991 it was presented at the Politeama Garibaldi in Palermo, conducted by Antonello Allemandi with the orchestra and chorus of the Teatro Massimo. Rockwell Blake sang Count Alberto. A performance under Gianluigi Gelmetti with the Stuttgarter Rundfunkorchester was given in 1992, the cast including Susan Patterson and Alessandro Corbelli.

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