OperaDB

Simon Boccanegra

opera · melodramma in un prologo e tre atti

Composer Giuseppe Verdi

Librettist Francesco Maria Piave, Giuseppe Montanelli

Synopsis

The corsair Simon Boccanegra has a child by Maria, whose father, the nobleman Jacopo Fiesco, has kept the lovers apart; the child has since vanished. The goldsmith Paolo Albiani puts Boccanegra forward as the people's candidate for Doge of Genoa, and on the night of the election Fiesco swears vengeance on him.

Versions

Key facts

Premiere
24 March 1881, Teatro alla Scala, Milan
Acts
3
Language
Italian (it)
Setting
Genoa and its surroundings, in the first half of the fourteenth century. Twenty-five years pass between the prologue and the opera.

What's different

Verdi's revision for the Teatro alla Scala, made with Arrigo Boito, who revised and added to Piave's libretto; it includes the Council Chamber scene. Primary here because it is the version that entered the repertory and the one most often performed.

Reviser Arrigo Boito

Dramatis personae

Role Voice Created by
Simon Boccanegra A corsair in the service of the Genoese republic, later Doge of Genoa. baritone Victor Maurel
Maria Boccanegra Simon's daughter, known as Amelia. soprano Anna D'Angeri
Jacopo Fiesco A Genoese nobleman, known in the opera as Andrea. bass (profondo) Édouard de Reszke
Gabriele Adorno A Genoese gentleman. tenor Francesco Tamagno
Paolo Albiani A goldsmith, later the Doge's favourite courtier. baritone Federico Salvati
Pietro A popular leader, later another courtier. baritone Giovanni Bianco
Un capitano dei balestrieri A captain of crossbowmen. tenor Angelo Fiorentini
Un'ancella di Amelia Amelia's maid. mezzo-soprano Fernanda Capelli

Source

Written from