Stanislao Gastaldon the music publisher Sonzogno announced a competition for one-act operas, Gastaldon decided to enter with "Mala Pasqua!", a setting of Giovanni Verga's popular short story (and later play), "Cavalleria rusticana". Another young composer, Pietro Mascagni, entered the same contest with his opera "Cavalleria rusticana", also based on Verga's story. Gastaldon withdrew his work early in the competition when he received an offer from Sonzogno's rival, Ricordi, to publish it and arrange a premiere at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome. He expanded the opera to three acts, and "Mala Pasqua!" premiered on April 9, 1890 to modest success. Mascagni's opera eventually
Brandon Jovanovich in Strauss' "Ariadne auf Naxos" with the Lyric Opera of Chicago and Boston Lyric Opera; the title role in Verdi's "Don Carlos" with the Houston Grand Opera; Turiddu in "Cavalleria rusticana" at the Houston Grand Opera, Dallas Opera, Angers-Nantes Opéra, Palm Beach Opera and New York City Opera; Luigi in Puccini's "Il tabarro" with the San Francisco Opera and Angers-Nantes Opéra; Boris in Janáček's "Káťa Kabanová" at the Lyric Opera of Chicago; Steva in Janáček's "Jenufa" at the Bayrische Staatsoper and Angers-Nantes Opéra; the title role in Britten's "Peter Grimes" with Teatro di San Carlo in Napoli; Pollione in Bellini's