Cavalleria rusticana libretto, sending it to Mascagni in fragments, sometimes only a few verses at a time on the back of a postcard. The opera was finally submitted on the last day that entries would be accepted. In all, 73 operas were submitted, and on 5 March 1890, the judges selected the final three: Niccola Spinelli's "Labilia", Vincenzo Ferroni's "Rudello", and Mascagni's "Cavalleria rusticana". There have been two other operas based on Verga's story. The first, "Mala Pasqua!" (Bad Easter!) by Stanislao Gastaldon, was entered in the same competition as Mascagni's. However, Gastaldon withdrew it when he received an opportunity to have
Ian Campbell (opera director) the Australia Council from 1974 to 1976, and later became General Manager of the State Opera of South Australia in Adelaide from 1976 to 1982. In 1982 he joined the Metropolitan Opera in New York as Assistant Artistic Administrator before becoming the General and Artistic Director, CEO of San Diego Opera in 1983. His stage directing credits include "La bohème" (1981) and "The Tales of Hoffmann" (1982) for the State Opera of South Australia; "Cavalleria rusticana" and "Pagliacci" for Santa Barbara Grand Opera (1999). For San Diego Opera he has staged "Falstaff" (1999), "Il trovatore" (2000), "Tosca" (2002), "Katya Kabanova"