La donna del lago to Naples in early June with no projects in the offing, except to become involved with overseeing a new production of his "La gazza ladra" there. Also, a commission from Milan's La Scala for an opera, which would become "Bianca e Falliero", had been offered and was planned for December of that year. Suddenly, the Italian composer Gaspare Spontini withdrew from a commitment to write two operas for the Naples house that season, thus leaving a huge gap. Rossini was quickly asked to write an opera for a September premiere; rather than use an existing libretto, the house insisted upon
Classical music of Birmingham Company - specialises in staging innovative performances in unusual venues (in 2005 it performed Monteverdi's "Il Ritorno d'Ulisse in Patria" in a burnt-out ice rink in the Chinese Quarter). Its artistic director, Graham Vick, has also directed at La Scala, Milan, the Metropolitan Opera in New York and the Royal Opera House in London. Visiting opera companies such as Opera North and Welsh National Opera perform regularly at the Hippodrome. Birmingham's other principal classical music venues include The National Indoor Arena (NIA), CBSO Centre, The Bradshaw Hall at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, the Barber Concert Hall at the Barber Institute