Thomas Beecham conducts Rossini’s The Silken Ladder Overture

On 6 May 1933, Thomas Beecham and the London Philharmonic Orchestra entered No.1 Abbey Road Studio to make a recording of one of Gioachino Rossini’s popular overtures: La Scala di Seta or The Silken Ladder. This was coupled with a performance of Handel’s Arrival of the Queen of Sheba. It was released on 78rpm record a few weeks later. (Columbia, LX255) 

The reviewer W.R.A. (William Robert Anderson) in The Gramophone (July 1933, p.58) was not impressed. He wrote that “Sir Thomas is fond of trying unfamiliar Rossini overtures, some of them worth unearthing and some not. That to The Silken Ladder, a one-act opera buffa that failed at Venice in 1812, is hearable enough, chiefly for its colours. The tunes are patternings of a stock type, with nothing fresh about them: just one good moment, on side 2.  Handel's dance to welcome the queen is a capital movement. I hope the good work of delving into Handel for the buried best of him will go on.”

La Scala di Seta’s libretto was written by Giuseppe Maria Foppa (1760-1845). The action takes place in the countryside near Paris, in the tutor and guardian Dormont's house. He wishes that his ward, Giulia, would wed his friend Blansac. Alas, she is already married to a certain Dorvil. This young man climbs up a silken ladder into her room each night. Giulia resolves to persuade her friend Lucilla into espousing Blansac. Somehow, everyone ends up in Giulia’s room, Dormont reluctantly understands, and the two couples live happily ever after.  La Scala di Seta is scored for a flute, two oboes, two clarinets, a bassoon, two horns and strings. The opera had its premiere at the Teatro San Moise in Venice on 9 May 1812. After a short run, it disappeared from the repertoire, while the vivacious overture survived in the concert hall.

The following description of the overture was authored by the British composer and conductor, Eugene Goossens:

"An interesting fact about this little-known overture is that it contains the first instance of the 'crescendo a la Rossini.' It has also been likened by some wag to 'a brightly coloured puppy chasing its tail!' "A short flashing prelude for strings leads to a slow duet for flute and oboe, after which the violins announce the allegro subject of the overture in as effervescent a passage as Rossini ever wrote. The oboe echoes it at breakneck speed, and later comes the expressive Rossinian second subject in flute and clarinet over a string accompaniment. This is the total material on which the little overture is built, and thus it bubbles its way to an explosive conclusion. Later, Rossini did this sort of thing again and again on a bigger scale, but this early miniature is definitely a gem of its kind."

Thomas Beecham and the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s1933 recording of Gioachino Rossini’s popular overture La Scala di Seta or The Silken Ladder can be heard on YouTube.