Simon Boccanegra
OPERA @ A GLANCE
LANGUAGE
Italian with English subtitles
FIRST PERFORMED
March 12, 1857
(first version)
March 24, 1881
(second version)
THEMES
Political
LIBRETTO
Francesco Maria Piave
(first version)
Arrigo Boito
(second version)
CHARACTERS
Simon Boccanegra (baritone), former Corsair turned Doge of Genoa. (A corsair is a private citizen that engages in maritime warfare under commission from a sovereign authority.)
Jacopo Fiesco/Andrea Grimaldi (bass), a Genoese patrician, turned political exile living under the pseudonym of Andrea Grimaldi
SETTING
Genoa, Italy mid 14th century
SYNOPSIS
Maria Boccanegra/Amelia Grimaldi (soprano), adopted daughter and actual granddaughter of Fiesco, and daughter of Simon Boccanegra
Gabriele Adorno (tenor), a patrician and love interest of Amelia
Paolo Albiani (baritone), leader of the plebian party and ally to Boccanegra
Pietro (bass), Boccanegra’s advisor
COMPOSER
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was born on October 10, 1813 in Le Roncole, modern day Italy. His love and talent for music were apparent at an early age and his musical training began at a local church, where by the age of nine he was the full time organist. In 1823, he moved with his family to the larger city of Busseto where he became heavily involved in the musical life of the city as a student, performer, and budding composer. In his lifetime, Verdi went on to have a prolific and successful career, composing over 25 operas including some of the most highly regarded such as Aida, La traviata, Rigoletto and Otello. He not only held a prominent reputation in the operatic theater world, but in Italy’s political movements that sought to unify the country.
LENGTH 3 ACTS
In the prologue, Paolo Albiani, a leader of the plebians, conspires to nominate Simon Boccanegra, a respected corsair, to the leadership position of the Doge of Genoa. Boccanegra considers the role because he believes it will elevate his position enough to marry Maria, his lover and the daughter of the wealthy patrician Jacopo Fiesco. But Fiesco is enraged by their relationship and has kept Maria prisoner because she gave birth to their illegitimate daughter. As the prologue ends, Maria has died, and their daughter has gone missing. A jubilant crowd gathers around Boccanegra to proclaim him the Doge.
In Act 1, twenty-five years have passed and as Doge, Boccanegra has exiled many political enemies and confiscated their property. Fiesco, now exiled, is residing outside of Genoa under the alias of Andrea Grimaldi with his adopted orphaned daughter named Amelia. Fiesco, along with Amelia’s patrician lover Gabriele Adorno, are a part of the resistance movement to oust Boccanegra from power. What follows is a story of love lost and found, masked identities, political intrigue, and murder.
upheaval, peace and patriotism, familial love, belonging
Listening Guide
Check
“A te l’estremo addio”
“Farewell to you”
In this aria, Fiesco mourns the recent loss of his daughter Maria, which he blames on her former lover. (We find out later in the opera that the man is Simon Boccanegra and that the two had a child together outside of marriage.) The brass instruments accompany Fiesco with drawn-out chords, giving the piece a deeply somber feeling. Layered over Fiesco’s personal expressions of grief, we hear the people inside the Fiesco home lamenting Maria’s death as well.
“Come in quest’ora bruna”
“How in this dark hour”
Amelia’s first aria introduces her character to the audience. We hear the flutes chirping away, imitating bird song as dawn breaks onstage, and we might at first think of Amelia as a Disney-princess type character, singing about the beauty of nature and how she is in love. In the middle part of the aria, though, Amelia is thrown into a traumatic memory of the night her caretaker died when she was a child. Amelia recovers herself from this recollection and the orchestral birdsong returns as she thinks about her current good fortune.
“Plebi! Patrizi! Popolo” ... “Piangi su voi”
“Plebians! Patricians! People!”…. “Cry over you”
In this aria, Simon Boccanegra speaks from his official position as Doge of Genoa. He sings about how lucky they are to live in this wonderful land together but how instead of appreciating this, they fight with one another. As he ends his powerful speech, proclaiming: “I call for peace; I call for love,” the many different characters gathered in the room offer their own perspective on the situation all at once. We hear the chorus calming down and Amelia echoing her father, but Pietro, Paolo, and Fiesco still plotting revenge.
“Come un fantasima”
“Like a ghost”
Fiesco tries to scare Boccanegra, saying he has come “like a ghost […] to avenge an ancient wrong.” Boccanegra stops Fiesco in his tracks by revealing that the woman Fiesco knows as Amelia Grimaldi is really Maria Boccanegra, Boccanegra’s daughter and Fiesco’s granddaughter. Fiesco is first shocked (listen for the sudden chord of surprise in the orchestra) and then begins to cry. The orchestra cries along with him, in repeated pairs of descending notes.
“O de’ Fieschi implacata”
“Oh hateful, ruthless Fieschi”
This moment in the opera is interesting because it contains so many emotions one after another. There is hate, then love, then suspense, then grief, then terror – all in two minutes! Try to see if you can hear these emotional shifts in the music in how Boccanegra’s voice sounds as the scene progresses and how the orchestra responds to the character’s state of mind as he discovers his beloved Maria has died.
“Orfanella, il tetto umile”
“A little orphan, with a humble roof”
Amelia tells Simon Boccanegra, who she knows only as the Doge of Genoa, about her past. Amelia becomes completely lost in her memories. We can hear her reliving them in her mind, singing her highest, loudest note when she remembers crying out for help. Meanwhile, Boccanegra is increasingly interested in Amelia’s sad tale, asking her for more details as he begins to hope that she may be his long-lost daughter.
“Perdon, Perdono, Amelia”
“Pardon, Pardon, Amelia”
At this moment in the opera, Simon Boccanegra has just revealed to Gabriele that Amelia is his daughter. In this trio, Gabriele apologizes to his beloved Amelia for thinking of her father as his enemy and trying to kill him. Amelia begs her father to forgive Gabriele for his violence, and Boccanegra is unsure what to do. As their voices twine together, Boccanegra realizes that in love, just like in politics, peace and unity are more important than vengeance.
out these significant musical moments in Simon Boccanegra! Each song helps tell the story and gives us insight into how the characters are feeling.
Provided to YouTube by NAXOS of America. Simon Boccanegra Prologue: Oh de’ Fieschi implacata (Simon, Fiesco, Paolo, Pietro, Chorus). Dmitri Hvorostovsky Verdi: Simon Boccanegra ℗ 2015 Delos Released on: 2015-04-14 Artist: Dmitri Hvorostovsky Artist: Ilda
SIMON BOCCANEGRA
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Written by Lily Kass, Scholar in Residence
Spotlights
What made you decide to be a conductor?
When I started to study music, I didn’t think that I would become a conductor. After studying piano, organ, harpsichord and composition, I became the assistant to the Chorus Master of the Teatro alla Scala in Milan, and after assisting numerous conductors, I replaced a conductor at the last moment, and from that moment on I was invited to conduct in numerous theaters and symphonic institutions.
What is your favorite opera to conduct? Why?
It’s not really an opera, but it’s like an opera: it’s Verdi’s Requiem; I’ve loved Verdi’s Requiem since we performed it when I was working at La Scala in the Church of San Marco in Milan. I have never forgotten the emotion of performing this piece in the place where it was first performed, and every time I conduct the Verdi Requiem I relive that emotion.
What is on your “recently played” playlist?
As musicians, we are very lucky to be able to do what we love every day!
Still, being on the road all the time can be stressful. When that happens, the music I listen to or play on the piano is by Johann Sebastian Bach.
What is your favorite role to sing? Why?
While I love every role I have had the chance to inhabit, one of my favorites was Rusalka—stepping into her world was the experience of existential awakening, a consciousness I did not know before this encounter.
The other is Cio-Cio San in Madame Butterfly. Her devotion to love, loyalty, her unwavering hope and faith, her ultimate sacrifice for her son, at least that was the way that she saw it. Her inner strength and tenacity are deeply moving and inspiring.
What is on your “recently played” playlist?
What made you decide to be an opera singer?
I chose to be an opera singer for several reasons: my love for music, my love for singing and storytelling. My other passion is psychology and I find there are many levels of depth within the art form which benefit from the psychological lens. Ultimately, I feel deeply grateful to have the opportunity to devote my life to my passion.
Two very different worlds: Clear Horizon—The Best of Basia
Wherever You Go There You Are by Jon Kabat-Zinn, on Audible. I realize this is not music, but while I exercise I have been listening to the author narrate this phenomenal book.
Corrado Rovaris Conductor
Ana María Martínez appearing as Maria /Amelia
