Culture of Milan nevertheless it retained a sort of central position in cultural debates. New ideas and movements from other countries of Europe were accepted and discussed: thus Realism and Naturalism gave birth to an Italian movement, "Verismo". The greatest "verista" novelist, Giovanni Verga, was born in Sicily but wrote his most important books in Milan. Milan is a major nationwide and international centre of the performing arts, most notably opera. Milan is the location of "La Scala" opera house, one of the most prestigious opera houses in the world, and throughout history has hosted the premieres of numerous operas, such as "Nabucco"
Hanoi Opera House Hanoi Opera Hotel which opened in 1999, as well as for the MGallery Hotel de l'Opera Hanoi, which opened in 2011. For historical reasons associated with the Vietnam war, the Hilton Hanoi Opera Hotel was not named the Hanoi Hilton. The opera house is described in the memoirs of Blanche Arral who performed in the new Hanoi Opera House in 1902 while waiting for the 1902 Exposition of Hanoi to open. The opera had depended on touring artists performing French and Italian repertoire during the colonial period for a mainly French audience. After the departure of the French the building