puritani; Il turco in Italia; and the world premiere of Menotti's La Loca. In addition, he produced the now-famous "The Three Queens" operas of Donizetti, Roberto Devereux (1970), Maria Stuarda (1972), and Anna Bolena, all of which starred Sills. He established a solid working relationship with Sills, and the feeling was mutual. "I can ask her to try anything onstage," said Capobianco, who directed most of her successes at City Opera and whom Sills regarded as "her" director." Capobianco commented on some of the features which allowed the trio of operas to be presented: "It was a golden era ... We had singers who could act. It was total theatre; drama. It was just a fantastic moment." In a statement after his death, Opera News described him as a "groundbreaking director during New York City Opera's heyday" and as "one of the most influential directors in opera during the 1960s and '70s". San Diego Opera, 1976 to 1983 He was general director of the San Diego Opera from 1976 to 1983. During his tenure he "expanded the season to six productions, featuring renowned superstars such as Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti and Beverly Sills." Because of his friendship with Sills, in 1980 the San Diego Opera presented her final performance, a production of Die Fledermaus, in which Sutherland and Sills took turns singing the roles of Rosalinde and Adele. One of the features of his tenure at the company was the introduction of a Verdi Festival, with two operas presented each summer, one generally a late composition, the other an early work from the composer's "galley years". Beginning in 1976 with Otello as part of the regular season, the festival continued in the summers of 1978 with Verdi's Requiem and Aida; in 1979 with I Lombardi; in 1980 with Il trovatore and Giovanna d'Arco; in 1981 with Un giorno di regno plus the Requiem; and 1982 saw stagings of Il corsaro and Un ballo in maschera. Capobianco left the company in 1983, but his successor was able to present I masnadieri (with Sutherland) along with Simon Boccanegra while the festival concept ended in March 1985 with Oberto (with Ferruccio Furlanetto and Susanne Marsee). Pittsburgh Opera, 1983 to 2000 His 17-year tenure as general director of the Pittsburgh Opera was summed up as "armed with a towering personality, glittering charisma and determined artistic vision, he's ruled the Pittsburgh Opera – sometimes, say