Polish opera "Fra Diavolo", Weber's "Der Freischütz" and many other operas by Donizetti, Meyerbeer and Rossini. In 1833 Antionio Corazzi, an Italian from Livorno, built a new theatre for the National Opera in Warsaw. The house was opened with a performance of Rossini's "The Barber of Seville". Stanisław Moniuszko is regarded as the true creator of Polish national opera. His role in the Polish tradition is similar to that of Glinka in the Russian, Smetana in the Czech and Ferenc Erkel in the Hungarian. In 1837 Moniuszko returned to Poland after receiving his musical education abroad. Ten years later he wrote the
Michigan Opera Theatre Maria Ewing who sang in the 1970 "The Barber of Seville" production; Leona Mitchell, who sang Bess in the company's 1975 production of "Porgy and Bess"; Kathleen Battle, whose 1975 performance as Rosina in "The Barber of Seville" marked her operatic debut; Catherine Malfitano, who created the role of Catherine Sloper in MOT's world premiere staging of "Washington Square" in 1976. Other notable artists include The Metropolitan Opera's Jerome Hines, a bass, who in 1974 sang the title role of "Boris Godunov"; Nicole Cabell who sang Musetta in "La bohème" in 2005, a few months after winning the BBC Cardiff