Composition
Menotti wrote the libretto to The Old Maid and the Thief himself; initially in Italian but with the intention of having the work translated into English for its premiere. It was the first of several operas in the English language by the young composer who was just 28 years old at the time. He was inspired to write the story of the opera after visiting the family of Samuel Barber (his partner). He found that what seemed to be a quaint, cute town actually covered up a plethora of secrets about people and places.
Rather than using the more contemporary through-composed style, Menotti chose to return to the 18th century opera buffa method of composing set numbers, a format which worked well on the radio. There are 14 short scenes, each preceded by a narrated "announcement", in keeping with the medium of radio (to be excluded if fully staged). The harmonic language is tonal and conservative. The radio announcements are included in the score, but it is also marked for stage direction.
The opera is most known for two arias. First, "What curse for a woman, is a timid man (Steal me, sweet thief)," is a full scene, where Laetitia sings of her affection for Bob, the bum. The other popular aria is "When The Air Sings of Summer," where Bob contemplates hitting the road. In addition to the original radio broadcast, the opera has been recorded twice on record: an LP from 1970 starring Judith Blegen and a more recent recording on CD from Dallas, Texas in February 2007. The arias are excerpted and available in the Soprano volume of G. Schirmer's American Arias and the Baritone Volume of G. Schirmer's American Arias.
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