Gioacchino Rossini

The Magic Toy Shop

The music for The Magic Toy Shop, a one act ballet about a love story between two can-can dancer dolls in a toy shop, is based on piano pieces that were a part of Rossini's Péchés de vieillesse. Respighi introduced Rossini's score to the impresario Sergei Diaghilev, whose Ballets Russes premiered the ballet in London on June, 5, 1919 to an eagerly awaiting audience. British conductor Malcolm Sargent took Respighi's orchestration and compiled the work into a suite, which has been edited by Nancy Bradburd in this edition. Instrumentation in set: 2+Picc.2+EH.2.2: 4.3.3.1: Timp.Perc(5) Hp.Clst: Str (9-8-7-6-5).