In 1909, Edoardo, unmarried and without children, handed over the management to his nephews Riccardo (1871–1915) and Lorenzo Sonzogno (1877–1920), who expanded the catalogue with new titles, including Fedra by Ildebrando Pizzetti, with a libretto by Gabriele D’Annunzio, and La rondine and the Inno a Roma by Giacomo Puccini.
Lorenzo Sonzogno also founded Musical Film, a pioneering film-production company in the field of film-opera. Among the works produced was the spectacular Excelsior, directed in 1913 by Luca Comerio, featuring the most evocative scenes of the ballet of the same name by Luigi Manzotti and Romualdo Marenco, which symbolized the new century. In addition to a large number of mimes, dancers and extras, an entire circus was engaged, complete with twenty-six lions.