“Look, when they tell me that in my music, I am mainly concerned with bringing together a little nostalgia and a lot of good humor and optimism, well, I think that’s exactly how I’d like to be remembered: with a bit of nostalgia, lots of optimism, and good humour.” If we listened to enough of his music (and not just the film music), Nino Rota’s wish might well come true, not least when listening to the third of his ten operas, the snappy Florentine Straw Hat (Il cappello di paglia di Firenze). This is his most popular stage work, which Rota wrote in Bari following the end of World War II and orchestrated a decade later for its premiere in Palermo.

Cast:
- Fadinard: Piotr Buszewski
- Elena: Tetiana Miyus
- Nonancourt: Daeho Kim
- La Baronessa di Champigny: Anna Brull
- Beaupertuis: Ivan Oreščanin
- Anaide: Antonia Cosmina Stancu
- Emilio: Dariusz Perczak
- Lo zio Vezinet: Martin Fournier
- Felice, Achille di Rosalba: Mario Lerchenberger
- Un caporale: Richard Friedemann Jähnig
- La modista: Silvija Pleše
- Una guardia: Veli-Pekka Varpula
- Minardi: Julian Gaudiano