Fanny Eckerlin has speculated on this last point that Eckerlin may have been chafing at the restrictions of her contract, as by this time she had already appeared with some success at La Scala, where she had debuted in "La gazza ladra" during the 1817–18 season. During Eckerlin's career she spent several seasons at the Teatro Italiano in Barcelona, where a claque in her honor was created, and where she won many favorable notices for her work before accepting a contract with the Salle Favart in Paris. She was a noted interpreter of Rossini, and during his tenure at the helm of
La straniera new style and its restless harmonic shifts into remote keys did not please all. 45 years later it was stated that "Bellini's style was abstruse, discontinuous, distorted, and lacking in distinction, that it alternated among the "serio" and the "buffo" and the "semi-serio"." 19th century performances The opera was first performed at La Scala, Milan on 14 February 1829, with Henriette Méric-Lalande and Domenico Reina in the leading roles. Alessandro Sanquirico, the well-established set designer of the time, designed the sets, and the opera was presented on a triple bill, along with the ballets "Buondelmonte" and "L'avviso ai maritati". Within