Giuseppina Ronzi de Begnis "La gazza ladra" for the grand inauguration of the newly built Teatro Nuovo in Pesaro. Rossini had grand ideas for the occasion and he wanted Isabella Colbran and Andrea Nozzari for a colossal production of his "Armida"; however budget constraints forced him to downsize his dreams, but when an attempt to secure his friend Rosa Morandi for "La gazza ladra" failed, he engaged Giuseppina Ronzi de Begnis and, at a reduced fee, her husband Giuseppe de Begnis as the Mayor. This move left him with enough money to engage a first class tenor like Alberico Curioni. In January 1819, Giuseppina
Cristoforo Colombo (opera) performed in a revised version at La Scala, Milan. It had a number of performances throughout Italy, many of them conducted by Arturo Toscanini, and in Buenos Aires. The opera's North American premiere was presented by the Philadelphia-Chicago Grand Opera Company at the Philadelphia Metropolitan Opera House on November 20, 1913, with Titta Ruffo in the title role, Rosa Raisa as Queen Isabella of Spain, Amedeo Bassi as Don Fernan Guevara, and Gustave Huberdeau as Don Roldano Ximenes. Despite initial stage success, a massive cut of the first version, of some 100 pages of orchestral score, led to the published