One-Hour Opera
The Santa Fe Opera's community oriented One-Hour Opera delivered a lively American professional premiere of Nino Rota's The Timid Twosome in spring 2008. While most famous for his film scores, Nino Rota also had an extensive career as a composer of opera, chamber music, and symphonic works. His full-length comedy The Italian Straw Hat had its American premiere at The Santa Fe Opera in 1977. The Timid Twosome (I due timidi) was commissioned by RAI (the Italian equivalent of BBC Radio) and first broadcast in 1950; the stage version premiered two years later.