Editing Franco Zeffirelli (section)

===Opera===
Zeffirelli was a major director of opera productions from the 1950s in Italy and elsewhere in Europe as well as the United States. He began his career in the theatre as assistant to Luchino Visconti. Then he tried his hand at scenography. His first work as a director was [[Opera buffa|buffo operas]] by [[Gioachino Rossini]]. He became a friend of [[Maria Callas]] and they worked together on a ''[[La traviata]]'' in [[Dallas]], Texas, in 1958. Of particular note is his 1964 [[Royal Opera House]] production of ''[[Tosca]]'' with Maria Callas and [[Tito Gobbi]]. In the same year, he created Callas' last ''[[Norma (opera)|Norma]]'' at the Paris Opera. He also staged at the [[Vienna State Opera]]: ''[[Don Giovanni]]'' (1972), ''[[La bohème|La Bohème]]'' (1963), and ''[[Carmen]]'' with [[Elena Obraztsova]] and [[Plácido Domingo]] in 1978.<ref>{{Cite web |title="Carmen" am 09.12.1978 {{!}} Spielplanarchiv der Wiener Staatsoper |url=https://archiv.wiener-staatsoper.at/performances/10834 |access-date=2023-09-14 |website=archiv.wiener-staatsoper.at}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Vorstellungen mit Franco Zeffirelli {{!}} Spielplanarchiv der Wiener Staatsoper |url=https://archiv.wiener-staatsoper.at/search/person/3217 |access-date=2023-09-14 |website=archiv.wiener-staatsoper.at}}</ref> Zeffirelli also collaborated with <!-- Not a 'Dame' until 1979 -->[[Joan Sutherland]], designing and directing her performances of [[Gaetano Donizetti]]'s ''[[Lucia di Lammermoor]]'' in 1959. Over the years he created several productions for the [[Metropolitan Opera]] in New York, including ''[[La bohème]]'', ''Tosca'', ''[[Turandot]]'' and ''[[Don Giovanni]]''. When the new [[Metropolitan Opera]] opened at Lincoln Center, he directed its first production, [[Samuel Barber]]'s ''[[Antony and Cleopatra]]'', starring Leontyne Price.