Its first opera season was from October through December 1854. The Max Maretzek Italian Opera Company was engaged by US actor James Henry Hackett. The company performed Bellini's "Norma" for the inauguration of the theatre with Giulia Grisi in the title role and Giuseppe Mario as Pollione headlining the performance under Max Maretzek's baton. The first season's repertoire was ambitious, and included "Semiramide" and "The Barber of Seville" by Rossini; "Norma" and "La Sonnambula" by Bellini; and "Don Pasquale", "Lucrezia Borgia", "La Favorita" and "Lucia di Lammermoor" by Donizetti. Maretzek's company performed an annual season at the Academy through 1878. His company was not the only group active at the opera house as the theater during this time. Musicologist George Whitney Martin writes: New York's Academy of Music, from 1854 to 1883 the city's leading house for opera, did not offer a secure base to any opera company. And why? Because it was primarily a real estate venture run by a board of investors seeking the highest rent possible."