was an immediate, unquestioned success with both audience and critics". However, Maria di Rohan continued for 33 performances in all, whereas Dom Sébastien remained in the repertory until 1845 with a total of 32 performances. 1844: In Vienna On 30 December 1843, Donizetti was back in Vienna, having delayed leaving until the 20th because of illness. Ashbrook comments on how he was viewed in that city, with "friends notic[ing] an alarming change in his physical condition", and with his ability to concentrate and simply to remaining standing often being impaired. Having entered into a contract with Léon Pillet of the Opéra for a new work for the coming year, he found nothing to be suitable and immediately wrote to Pillet proposing that another composer take his place. While waiting to see if he could be relieved from writing a large-scale work if Giacomo Meyerbeer would allow Le Prophète to be staged instead that autumn, he looked forward to the arrival of his brother from Turkey in May and to the prospect of their traveling to Italy together that summer. Eventually, it was agreed that his commitment to the Opéra could be postponed until November 1845. While taking care of some of his obligations to the Viennese court, for the remainder of the month he awaited news on the outcome of the 12 January premiere of Caterina Cornaro in Naples. By the 31st (or 1 February), he learned the truth: it had been a failure. What was worse were the rumours that it was not in fact Donizetti's work, although a report from Guido Zavadini suggested that it was probably a combination of elements which caused the failure, including the singers' difficulty in finding the right tone in the absence of the maestro, plus the heavily censored libretto. Primarily, however, the opera's failure appears to have been due to the maestro's absence, because he was unable to be present to oversee and control the staging, normally one of Donizetti's strengths. The Italian season in Vienna, which included Bellini's Norma and revivals of Linda di Chamounix and of Don Pasquale, also included the first production there of Verdi's Ernani. Donizetti had made a promise to Giacomo Pedroni of the publishing house Casa Ricordi to oversee the production of the opera, which was given on 30 May with Donizetti conducting. The result was a very warm letter from Giuseppe Verdi entrusting the production