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
Haiphong Opera House Haiphong Opera House Haiphong Opera House (Vietnamese "Nhà hát lớn Hải Phòng") is a French-built neoclassical opera house on Opera Square ("Quảng trường Nhà hát lớn") in Hai Phong, which was opened in 1912. The first performance of opera in Haiphong was held by a travelling troupe in the Hotel des Colonies in 1888. Later 1895-1897 a touring French opera company in Indochina, featuring Alexandra David-Néel as prima donna toured Haiphong with La Traviata and Carmen. Another touring company, while waiting for the 1902 Exposition of Hanoi to open, came to Haiphong, including Blanche Arral. The French colonial authorities cleared