Richard Coeur-de-lion (opera) performances by that company by 1910. Another 302 were given at the Théâtre Lyrique between 1856 and 1868. A translated semi-opera version of Sedaine's work "Richard Cœur de lion" was written by John Burgoyne with music by Thomas Linley the elder for the Drury Lane Theatre where it was very successful in 1788. "Richard Cœur-de-lion" played an important role in the development of "opéra comique" in its treatment of a serious, historical subject. It was also one of the first rescue operas. Significantly, one of the chief characters in the most famous rescue opera of all, Beethoven's "Fidelio", is called
Opera a Chinese language form of Western style opera that is distinct from traditional Chinese opera, has had operas dating back to "The White Haired Girl" in 1945. In Latin America, opera started as a result of European colonisation. The first opera ever written in the Americas was "La púrpura de la rosa", by Tomás de Torrejón y Velasco, although "Partenope", by the Mexican Manuel de Zumaya, was the first opera written from a composer born in Latin America (music now lost). The first Brazilian opera for a libretto in Portuguese was "A Noite de São João", by Elias Álvares Lobo.