Tuberculosis in human culture the disease, which allegedly helped them to see life more clearly and to act decisively. In 1680 John Bunyan referred to it as "the captain of all these men of death". Several major operas have exploited the theme of heroines dying tragically of tuberculosis, including Mimì in Puccini's opera "La bohème". Giuseppe Verdi's "La Traviata" features the consumptive Violetta Valéry, based on Marguerite Gautier in Alexandre Dumas, "fils"'s 1848 novel "La Dame aux Camélias". In Jacques Offenbach's opera "The Tales of Hoffmann", Antonia has tuberculosis and is under the control of a Svengali-like quack doctor who forces her to sing
Teatro Lirico Giuseppe Verdi to solve the problem, which was accomplished by incorporating elements of Milan's La Scala opera house. The "Nuovo" became a mixture of La Fenice on the inside and La Scala on the exterior. Several name changes have occurred during the theatre's lifetime, the first in 1821 when it became the "Teatro Grande" and it was under this name that the theatre was the site of two Verdi opera premieres: "Il corsaro" in 1848 (featuring the soprano Giuseppina Strepponi, who Verdi married in 1859, in the leading role) and "Stiffelio", a production which Verdi supervised - not without controversy - in