Alessandro Rota, a successful operatic tenor in the Southern Hemisphere, came from Cape Town to Johannesburg in 1955 and helped form "The National Opera Association". Rota began making a difference by producing operatic concerts, full acts from operas, and then full opera productions. Under Rota's tutelage, Franchi's voice matured, and he expanded his vocal range and technique. About his first experience with the fledgling opera company in a production of "Carmen," Franchi later stated this initial experience was a disaster: He sang the tenor part in Italian, the baritone sang in Russian, and the soprano sang her role in French. The company quickly matured and Rota placed Franchi in leading tenor roles in at least two successful full opera productions - Puccini's "Madama Butterfly" in 1957, and then Verdi's "La traviata" in 1959. Some references also list Franchi singing lead performances in Verdi's "Rigoletto" and Puccini's "La boheme."