 Among the reasons cited for the opera's lack of success were an "inflated production with problematic technical apparatus, gaudy costumes, overcrowded stage forces and a press overly attentive to the social glitter of the occasion" .Less kindly, the 1966 premiere was retrospectively described as "a hair-curlingly awful production.… The night has gone down in the annals of opera as a landmark of vulgarity and staging excess.