Graciela Rivera year she made her operatic debut as Rosina in "The Barber of Seville" by Gioachino Rossini at the New Orleans Opera. In December 1951, she became the first Puerto Rican to sing a lead role at the New York Metropolitan Opera as Lucia in the production of Lucia di Lammermoor. She earned accolades for her performance from critics around the world. In 1953, Rivera was proclaimed "Citizen of the Year" by the City of New York. In 1954 Rivera was featured as a guest singer in Name That Tune, and later that year, at an instance of Your Show of
Messa per Rossini 148 years and a month, the Requiem was finally performed in the Basilica of San Petronio in Bologna, the place Giuseppe Verdi originally had in mind for this work. Lorenzo Bizzarri conducted the Cappella Musicale di Santa Maria dei Servi (orchestra and choir) and the Corale Quadriclavio, both from Bologna. Notes Sources Messa per Rossini The Messa per Rossini is a Requiem Mass composed to commemorate the first anniversary of Gioachino Rossini's death. It was a collaboration among 13 Italian composers, initiated by Giuseppe Verdi. The composition was intended to be performed on 13 November 1869 in the Basilica of