 The opera itself had a slow start, but soon the Neapolitans loved it, for Donizetti was very popular in that city; it was still in the repertory the following year and achieved more than thirty-five performances.However, when the opera was staged at the Teatro alla Scala in Milan on 2 January 1828, and in Rome in June, it completely failed, receiving but a single performance in each city.Its Milan failure pleased Donizetti's younger competitor, Vincenzo Bellini, whose "Il pirata" had won great critical and popular acclaim in Milan in October of the previous year.