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
Bruce Ford (tenor) Théâtre de Bordeaux as Almaviva, and the Aix-en-Provence Festival, as Lindoro. He began specializing in the bel canto repertory notably Rossini, appearing at the Pesaro Festival and the Wexford Festival in roles such as Argirio in "Tancredi", Uberto in "La donna del lago", Rinaldo in "Armida", Agorante in "Ricciardo e Zoraide", Antenore in "Zelmira", Erisso in "Maometto II", Oreste in "Ermione", etc. In 1991, he sang in "Mitridate, re di Ponto" at the Royal Opera House in London. He also appeared at La Monnaie in Brussels, at La Scala in Milan, the Vienna State Opera, the Metropolitan Opera in New