 Some complications had emerged in his relationship with Domenico Barbaja, the impresario who controlled both the Naples and the Milan theatres.However, when Barbaja visited Milan in June, he offered Bellini the opportunity to choose between working for either Naples or Milan as the venue for his next opera.For the composer, the decision hung on the availability of singers for each of the houses, especially because Giovanni Battista Rubini, his preferred tenor, was contracted to sing only in Naples.