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 chute de la maison Usher (opera) as Lady Madeline, the baritone Barry McDaniel as the doctor, and the bass Walter Grönroos as Roderick's friend. Blin's reconstruction was later recorded by EMI — the music has a running time of approximately 22 minutes. In 2004, Robert Orledge completed and orchestrated the work using Debussy's draft. His reconstruction has been performed several times. It has also been recorded on DVD (Capriccio 93517) (see "Recordings" below). Notes Sources La chute de la maison Usher (opera) La chute de la maison Usher ("The Fall of the House of Usher") is an unfinished opera in one act (divided into two scenes)