In 1978 European conductor Carlo Maria Giulini became the eighth music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. As music director of the LA Phil, Giulini brought a seriousness of purpose to standard eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth century repertoire. One of the many highlights of his tenure with the LAPO was the staged performances of Verdi’s Falstaff, co-produced by the Royal Opera, Covent Garden in April 1982 which brought forth praise from the international press, and a live commercial recording. He also left a cache of recordings with the LAPO of works by Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann, Chopin, Debussy, Ravel, Bizet et al. He resigned in 1984 in order to care for his ailing wife.