Mala vita staged in Rome at Sonzogno's expense. Giordano submitted "Marina". When the winners were announced in March 1890, the three chosen from the 72 entires were Niccola Spinelli's "Labilia", Vincenzo Ferroni's "Rudello", and Mascagni's "Cavalleria rusticana", with "Cavalleria" awarded the First Prize. However, "Marina" received one of the 13 "honourable mentions" and impressed. Amintore Galli, Sonzogno's music advisor, who convinced the publisher to offer a commission to the young Giordano for a full-length opera. The huge success of "Cavalleria rusticana" based on the verismo play of the same name by Giovanni Verga, led to the choice of a similar subject for
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