Lucia Elizabeth Vestris she showed off her fabulously perfect legs, launched her career as a scandalous beauty. From then on she remained an extraordinary favourite in opera, musical farces, and comedies until her retirement in 1854. At the King's Theatre she sang in the English premieres of many Rossini operas, sometimes conducted by the composer himself: "La gazza ladra" (as Pippo, 1821), "La donna del lago" (as Malcolm Groeme, 1823), "Ricciardo e Zoraide" (as Zomira, 1823), "Matilde di Shabran" (as Edoardo, 1823), "Zelmira" (as Emma, 1824), and "Semiramide" (as Arsace, 1824). She excelled in "breeches parts," and she also performed in Mozart operas,
La Fenice sooner had the opera house been rebuilt than a legal dispute broke out between the company managing it and the owners, the Venier family. The issue was decided in favor of the Veniers. At the beginning of the 19th century, La Fenice acquired a European reputation. Rossini mounted two major productions there: "Tancredi" in 1813 and "Semiramide" in 1823. Two of Bellini's operas were given their premieres there: "I Capuleti e i Montecchi" in March 1830 and "Beatrice di Tenda" in March 1833. Donizetti, fresh from his triumphs at La Scala in Milan and at the Teatro di San Carlo