Marina, originally written as a zarzuela, suffered a cool reception in Madrid seemingly due to its literary and dramatic weaknesses. After only being shown six times in the capital, however, it was staged in the provinces, where the magnificent reception that it got is still more than matched by today’s audiences.
The composer was advised to convert it into an opera by the singer Enrique Tamberlik, among others. As Camprodón had died, Arrieta (1823-1894) put Ramos Carrión in charge of editing the text. He kept most of his predecessor's work. Marina was performed for the first time as an opera in the Real Theatre (which was then the Great National Opera Theatre), on the 16th of March 1871 and Tamberlik played “Jorge”. It was so successful that it became the event of the season and it was performed in all of the lyric Theatres in Europe and Spanish America. Today it still conserves all the brilliance of its spontaneous music, soundly written with a melodic elegance.
Marina contains numerous moments of very interesting music. The general structure of Arietta’s score brings Donizetti and Rossini to mind and, with the exception of some characters who are clearly Spanish – “Roque” is an example - it turns out to be a perfectly Italian creation, just as can be seen in the roles of “Jorge” or “Marina” herself. Deceit, jealousy and errors are all entwined in the opera’s most important arias, from the “Fishermen’s chorus” at the start of the opus, to the barcarolle "The adorned sea shines”, the vibrant romance “Think of him”, the demanding “Levante Coast”, the drinking song “Fill the glass to the brim”, which is heard so much both on and off the stage; and the very well known “Happy rich man”.

The plot is an uncomplicated naïve romantic idyll. It is set in Lloret de Mar, a village on the Catalonian coast. An orphan like Arrieta himself, Marina is in love with Jorge, the tutor that took charge of her upbringing after her parents had died. She is a woman in her own right, he is the flamboyant captain of a boat and they harbour a secret love for each other. Whilst Jorge is away on one of his voyages, a caulker named Pascual asks Marina to marry him. She thinks that this would be the ideal way to find out if Jorge has the same feelings for her and tells Pascual that he has to ask the captain for her hand in marriage because, as she is an orphan, she considers him as her only family. Pascual does as he is told and Jorge agrees without showing that his heart has been broken. 
Alberto, a merchant captain, delivers a letter to Marina from her father, who she thought had died a long time ago. It was the last letter that he wrote as a farewell, just before dying. Pascual becomes jealous because he thinks it is a love letter, and begins to doubt Marina's faithfulness… Marina and Jorge, who cannot stay quiet any longer, start to sing about their love… They agree to get married when Jorge returns from his next voyage.