"In 1923 he began his formal musical training at the Verdi Conservatory
in Milan.  Following the death of his father, his mother took him to the
United States, where he was enrolled at Philadelphia's Curtis Institute
of Music.  There he completed his musical studies, working in composition
under Rosario Scalero.

His first mature work, the one-act opera buffa, *Amelia Goes to the
Ball*, was premiered in 1937, a success that led to a commission from
the National Broadcasting Company to write an opera especially for radio,
*The Old Maid and the Thief*, the first such commission ever given.  His
first ballet, * Sebastian*, followed in 1944, and for this he wrote the
scenario as well as the score.  After the premiere of his *Piano Concerto*
in 1945, Menotti returned to opera with *The Medium*, shortly joined by
*The Telephone*, both enjoying international success.

*The Consul*, Menotti's first full-length work, won the Pulitzer Prize
and the New York Drama Critics Circle award as the best musical play of
the year in 1954.  By far Menotti's best-known work is the Christmas
classic *Amahl and the Night Visitors*, composed for NBC-TV in 1951"

Sorry about the confuison but a hunch or suspicion lurks at the back of
my mind that the two operas may be related.

iskender