Francesco Cilea Pubblica Istruzione (Department of Education). In 1889, for his final examination at the end of his course of study, he submitted his opera "Gina", with a libretto by Enrico Golisciani which was adapted from the old French play "Catherine, ou La Croix d'or" by Baron Anne-Honoré-Joseph Duveyrier de Mélésville (1787—1865). This "melodramma idilico" was performed in the college theatre, and it attracted the attention of the publishers Sonzogno, who arranged for a second production, in Florence, in 1892. Sonzogno also then commissioned from Cilea "La Tilda", a verismo opera in three short acts along the lines of Mascagni's "Cavalleria rusticana".
Mildred Miller Met was on December 3, 1974 as Lola in "Cavalleria rusticana" with Elinor Ross as Santuzza, Harry Theyard as Turiddu, and John Nelson conducting. While performing at the Met, Miller also appeared as a guest artist on the stages of many opera houses throughout the world. She was a frequent performer at the Opern- und Schauspielhaus Frankfurt from 1959-1973. She also made appearances at the San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Cincinnati Opera, San Antonio Grand Opera Festival, Pittsburgh Opera, Kansas City Opera, Fort Worth Opera, and Opera Pasadena. She was a busy recitalist as well, appearing in concerts