Opera "Simon Boccanegra": content, interesting facts, video, history

D. Verdi opera "Simon Boccanegra"

Dark, sad and gloomy called the opera "Simon Boccanegra" not only viewers and critics, but also the author himself, Giuseppe Verdi. If it were not for the perseverance of the brilliant music manager and publisher Julio Ricordi, this opera would be little known today and almost non-performing. But due to the fact that he persuaded the maestro to return to his old composition, the updated "Simon Boccanegra" was one of the most prominent works of the great composer.

Summary of the opera Verdi "Simon Boccanegra"and many interesting facts about this work read on our page.

Summary of "Simone Boccanegra"

Genoa and its surroundings, mid 14th century.

Prologue. The square in front of the palace Fiesco in Genoa. The ambitious Paolo Albani and Pietro decide to use their influence to make the celebrated Simon Boccanegra doge of Genoa. Boccanegra is surprised, but he hopes that such a high post will help him marry Maria, from whom he brings up a three-year-old daughter. The aristocratic father Fiesco is hostile to Simon because of his low birth, but offers reconciliation if he gives him a granddaughter for his upbringing. The corsair admits that the child has recently disappeared. Having got into Fiesco's house to meet with Maria, Boccanegra finds her dead. The crowd in the square rejoices, proclaiming it the new doge of Genoa.

Main action. 25 years have passed. In the garden of the palace of Grimaldi, the daughter of the host, Amelia, meets with her lover, Gabriel Adorno. Both their families are in disgrace at Doge Boccanegra. Monk Andrea (Fiesco) and Adorno are planning a rebellion forgiving him. Gabriel asks Andrea to bless him for marriage. The old man warns him about the unknown origin of Amelia - Grimaldi adopted her. The young man does not stop it.

A doge arrives at the Grimaldi house to convince Amelia to accept the marriage proposal of her confidant, Paolo. During a conversation with a girl, Boccanegra realizes that before him is his daughter Maria. They decide to keep their secret for now. Paolo, distressed by the fact that Simon did not achieve for him the hand of Amelia, goes over to the side of the conspirators. He tries to kidnap a girl, but Gabriel defends her by killing one of the attackers.

Boccanegra at a meeting of the Senate hears the roar of the crowd outside the window and orders the security to let everyone in. The people accuse Gabriele of murder, he tries to justify himself. Doge believes him because he knows the name of the abductor. And it is Paolo, he instructs to announce the death sentence. The words "Damn it!" Albioni is actually saying to himself.

Paolo is plotting revenge: Andrea is arrested, Gabriele he suggests that Boccanegra is Amelia's lover, and he pours poison into a doge's glass. Boccanegra drinks from the cup and falls asleep. Gabriele makes his way to him with a dagger, but Amelia rushes to intercept, revealing that she is the daughter of the Doge. The young man repents and is ready to fight on the side of her father.

Boccanegra frees the monk from prison, and Paolo sentences to death. Holiday songs for the wedding of Amelia and Gabriele sound. Upon learning that Paolo had poisoned Boccanegro, Andrea heads for the weakening doge and triumphantly announces his imminent demise. Simon finds out Fiesco and tells him that Amelia is his granddaughter. Former enemies are reconciled. Boccanegra introduces his daughter to his grandfather, appoints his son-in-law his successor and dies.

A photo

Interesting Facts

• The story is based on real events. The real Simon Boccanegra, however, was not a corsair, but a sailor, like his brother, Egidio. He came from the people and represented the interests of ordinary people in the struggle against the power of the aristocracy. Boccanegra headed Genoa at an unstable and difficult time and ruled the city-state twice - from 1339 to 1344 and from 1356 to 1364. His policy was primarily aimed at resolving internal conflicts, but in the years of his power, Genoa also strengthened militarily, confidently winning several victories and becoming one of the largest maritime powers, the Apennines, on a par with Venice. It is said that he really died from poisoning with poison.
• The first performer of the role of Simon, Leone Geraldoni, the last 6 years of his life, taught vocals at the Moscow Conservatory. His son, Eugenio Giraldoni, also became a renowned baritone and the first performer of Baron Scarpia in "Tosca "D. Puccini.
• To Victor Morel, the performer of the Milan Boccanegra, due to a rather young age (32 years old), Verdi initially regarded with doubt. But then he was absolutely captivated by the talent of this singer and invited him to be his Iago in the premiere Othello and Falstaff in his last opera.
• In different periods of time, Placido Domingo sang in this opera part in two tessituurs - tenor Gabriele and baritone Simon Boccanegro.
• The main motive of his darkest opera Verdi chose the sea. This is an element of the scene - Genoa is located on the coast, and the main character, whose fate is intertwined with the sea. For a composer who has always been interested exclusively in human passions, such attention to nature is very unusual. The introduction to the prologue, the accompaniment of Amelia's arias, the wave-like construction of sound that set the tone for the entire canvas of the opera are saturated with sea.

• The music of the opera seems saturated with dark tones also because the three most important parts are written here for low voices - Boccanegra, Paolo, Fiesco. Fiesco remains in the background of major events almost all over the opera, but his mysterious figure also works for the gloomy atmosphere.
• At the heart of the libretto of the opera Verdi "Troubadour"also lies the play of A.G. Gutierrez.
• With Arrigo Boito, Verdi wrote two of his final works - "Othello"and"Falstaff"Boito also wrote the libretto of the opera" Gioconda "by A. Ponchielli and his own," Mephistopheles. "

The best numbers from the opera "Simon Boccanegra"

"Piango su voi ..." - Boccanegra's aria and sextet (listen)

"Orfanella il tetto ..." - a duet of the Boccangers and Amelia (listen)

"A te l'estremo addio" - Fiesco's aria (listen)

The history of the creation and productions of "Simon Boccanegra"

Verdi his previous opera, the Sicilian Vespers, was so uneasy that he decided not to write anymore on the order of a particular theater for a certain season. But after a triumphant renewal in La Fenice booed before "Traviata", the maestro relented and agreed to create another opera for the Venetian stage. His constant co-author Francesco Maria Piave offered the play by the Spanish playwright AG Gutierrez" Simon Boccanegra. "The plot was very confusing and practically unsuitable for staging on the opera stage" as is "Therefore, Verdi gave Piave his own script of the opera - in prose. In fact, he even assumed that the libretto could remain prosaic, but Piave could clothe all the vicissitudes of this confusing story in verse.

During the creation of the libretto Verdi was in Paris, engaged in transcribing the "Troubadour" into French, and Piave in Venice, working by correspondence at the speed of the post office that was ineffective, therefore the composer hired the writer Giuseppe Montanelli, who also lived in Paris, to grind poetry. Piave eventually received the final version of the libretto, in the accompanying letter Verdi left behind the co-author the right to put his name on the cover. At the same time, Piave did not learn anything about his Paris colleague.

March 12, 1857 in La Fenice premiere "Simon Boccanegra". In the party of Simon one of the favorite baritones of the maestro Leone Giraldoni spoke. Verdi wrote about the reaction to the premiere as follows: “It was a fiasco, almost as grandiose as it was on Traviata. The subsequent productions in Reggio Emilio and Naples were made warmer, but followed by Florence and Milan again in 1859 - again the failures ...

In order to successfully pass the Austrian censorship, the creators of the opera have focused on the love line, very vaguely expressing the important political and social motives of the plot. In this form, the story turned out to be inferior. A month after the premiere, the authors attempted to finalize the ponderous libretto, but failed to fundamentally change it.

In 1868, Giulio Ricordi invited the composer to return to Simon Boccanegre. This idea was in the air for another 10 years, but Verdi ignored it. So far, again thanks to Ricordi, he has not met Arrigo Boito, a Milan composer and poet. Verdi had in his head the idea of ​​the opera Othello, for which he was looking for the librettist, but probably deciding to try the forces of Boito, he offered him Simon Boccanegro at first. The new coauthor so zealously took up the mess that the composer had to stop him. Verdi noted that he could not completely rewrite the opera, as it will take more time than he is willing to spend on it. However, the second act was significantly redone. The composer was pleased with the work of his collaborator.

The second version of the opera was also born in letters - Verdi lived in Genoa, Boito - in Milan, they met only once. La Scala was chosen as the location for the new premiere. When the maestro met the cast, he almost took the opera from the theater. Verdi has always had a clear idea of ​​what artists he needs. He believed that Boccanegra should not be too young. Since this role is outwardly inexpressive, it must be filled with inner content, which means that the singer should perform it with great acting talent. For the party, Fiesco Verdi demanded to find a performer with a “steel” timbre. "Either opera for singers, or singers for opera ... Your line-up is suitable for the theater, but not for Simon Boccanegra," Verdi wrote, justifying Ricordi his position on the artists announced for the premiere. The first performance of the updated Simon Boccanegra was March 24, 1881 Victor Morel sang the title role. The opera overtook the long-awaited success. During the following seasons it was staged in many European capitals.

In Russia, the opera first saw the scene in 1955 in Kuibyshev. It can be said that only at the end of the 20th century "Simon Boccanegra" received world recognition. Now more than 350 performances are given annually. Since 2016, the opera has been part of the repertoire of the Mariinsky Theater.

Screenshots of "Simone Boccanegra"

The interest of theaters and festivals to this work by Verdi was embodied in interesting productions, some of which were filmed:

• The performance of the theater Regio di Parma, 2012, in the main parts - L. Nucci (Boccanegra), R. Scandiuzzi (Fiesco), F. Meli (Gabriele), T. Iveli (Amelia);
• Covent-Garden performance, 2010, in the main parts - P. Domingo, F. Furlanetto, D. Callea, M. Poplavskaya;
• The performance of La Scala, 2010, in the main parts - P. Domingo, F. Furlanetto, F. Sartori, A. Harteros;
• The performance of the Vienna Opera, 2002, in the main parts - T. Hampson, F. Furlanetto, M. Dvorsky, C. Gallardo Domas;
• The performance of the Metropolitan Opera, 1995, in the main parts - V. Chernov, R. Lloyd, P. Domingo, K. Te Kanava;
• The performance of the festival "Choregia of Orange", 1985, in the main parts - P. Cappuccci, P. Pliska, L. Bartolini, M. Caballe.

Simon Boccanegra - one of the most dramatic characters Verdi. And, perhaps, the most autobiographical. He also lost a beloved child and a child in his youth, he also gives up his duty and fights for freedom and justice, there is as much unspenting fatherly love in him as in the maestro himself. Deep psychological study of images and intense multi-figure action makes this opera one of the most interesting works of the composer.