The Barber of Seville "Il bacio", the Bolero from Verdi's "I vespri siciliani", the Shadow Song from Meyerbeer's "Dinorah", and Henry Bishop's "Home! Sweet Home!". Nellie Melba followed suit, accompanying herself on the piano in the final song. Pauline Viardot began the practice of inserting Alexander Alyabyev's "Nightingale". Maria Callas sang a cut-down version of Rossini's own "Contro un cor." Once after Patti had sung a particularly florid rendition of the opera's legitimate aria, 'Una voce poco fa', Rossini is reported to have asked her: "Very nice, my dear, and who wrote the piece you have just performed?" The piece is a staple of
Virginia Opera Gardner, Sujung Kim, Frank Porretta, Grant Youngblood, Fabiana Bravo, Mary Elizabeth Williams, Nmon Ford, Jeniece Goldbourne, Randall Scarlata, and Thomas Rolf Truhitte. Attracting acclaimed directors from the theater and opera world, the company has given audiences the experience of seeing the work of Gian Carlo Menotti, Gordon Davidson, Greg Ganakas, Arvin Brown, Dorothy Danner, Lillian Groag and Sam Helfrich, among others, in new productions designed by the nation's top opera and theatre designers. The first few seasons consisted of standard works such as "La boheme", "La traviata", "Tosca", "Lucia di Lammermoor" and "The Barber of Seville", all presented in the