In 1855 Maretzek produced Rossini's 'William Tell' and Verdi's _Il Trovatore_ at the Academy. He had a good company which included the soprano Steffanone--one of Señor Marty's singers--and the tenor Brignoli, who became a great favorite with New Yorkers. A Mr. Payne opened a season of forty nights there in the fall of 1855 and in the following year Maretzek again became lessee. He soon quarrelled with the proprietors of the Academy and went to Boston. In January, 1857, Maurice Strakosch opened a season of Italian opera with an indifferent company, but in March Maretzek reappeared and set up an opposition at Niblo's. The next few seasons were marked by an amount of activity in which control of the operatic field was a consideration paramount to artistic achievement. Maretzek, Strakosch, and the latter's aide, Bernard Ullman, were the principals in an amusing campaign which, on more than one occasion, saw the rival impresarios acting as partners. Strakosch and Ullman opened the Academy season in the fall of 1857 with the fascinating Emmilia Frezzolini in _La Sonnambula_. Carl Anschütz, later of the Arion, was conductor. It was really a good season and, though it saw no novelties, it was redeemed from the usual hurdy-gurdy category by the production of _Les Huguenots_ and _Robert le Diable_. In March, 1858, 'Leonora,' by the American composer W. H. Fry, was produced at the Academy under the bâton of Carl Anschütz. Maretzek, in the meantime, was in Philadelphia with a company headed by the famous buffo, Roncone. In 1858 he returned to New York and opened a season at the Academy, while Strakosch took up a stand at Burton's Theatre. Ullman came from Europe in October, bringing with him the saucy and winsome Maria Piccolomini, whom he advertised as a lineal descendant of Charlemagne and the great-granddaughter of Schiller's hero, Max Piccolomini. As a showman Ullman was second only to the great Barnum. Maretzek and Ullman joined hands at the Academy in the fall of 1859 and presented Adelina Patti in _Lucia di Lammermoor_.