Rosa Raisa newspaper that she had playfully told Puccini that he "better be sure to put in plenty of high C's." On October 7, 1924, less than two months before Puccini died, Angelo Scandiani, administrative director of La Scala, wired Herbert Johnson of the Chicago Opera that Puccini and Toscanini had cast three Chicago Opera artists, Rosa Raisa, Edith Mason, and Giaccomo Rimini, for the lead roles in the upcoming "Turandot". At that time it was thought that the premiere would take place in April 1925, but Puccini's death at the end of November 1924 postponed these plans; Franco Alfano was selected
Enrico Alfano the Italian newspaper "La Stampa", Alfano did spent six or seven years in prison, where he earned his initiation as a "camorrista", which gave him the "right" to demand a "tangente", protection money, from the merchants in the neighbourhood he controlled. Both sources agree that Alfano imposed his position when he defeated the Camorra head, the "capintesta" Totonno" 'o Pappagallo" (The Parrot) – so-named for his beak parrot nose – in a "zumpata" – a kind of ritual initiation knife duel – despite the fact that his adversary sent his Mastino dog to attack Alfano. The conflict started when "Pappagallo"