Short Summary
Populism, power-grabbing, the ability to influence a fickle crowd: themes that could not be more topical.
Based on the historical Genoese Doge Simon Boccanegra at the end of the Middle Ages, Verdi portrays a ruler who desperately tries to rule well, keep hostile factions in check and ultimately becomes a victim himself, as a kind of scapegoat.
Simon Boccanegra
Storyline
The corsair Simon Boccanegra has himself elected Doge of Genoa with the help of Paolo.
He believes that in this position, the patrician Jacopo Fiesco can no longer refuse him the hand of his daughter Maria - Boccanegra's lover and the mother of his daughter. But Maria dies and Fiesco swears revenge on Boccanegra unless he hands over his granddaughter. But the girl, who has been entrusted to the care of a nurse, has disappeared.
The fate of Boccanegra's daughter is clarified 25 years later. As a foundling, Amelia was taken in by the Grimaldi family and falls in love with the patrician Gabriele Adorno. Boccanegra asks her to marry Paolo, who has since become his chancellor. When father and daughter recognize each other, however, he abandons the proposal. Paolo is outraged and has Amelia kidnapped, but this is thwarted by Adorno.
While the Senate is in session, he breaks into the meeting room and wants to pounce on Boccanegra as the alleged instigator of the kidnapping. Amelia, however, intervenes. Boccanegra, who recognizes Paolo as the man responsible for the kidnapping, demands that he pronounce the curse on the criminal. Paolo takes revenge by poisoning Boccanegra's sleeping draught. Adorno also tries to kill the Doge, as Paolo claims that he is Amelia's lover.
But Amelia intervenes again and reveals herself to Adorno as Boccanegra's daughter. When the patricians move to overthrow the Doge, Adorno takes Boccanegra's side. The rebellion is crushed, Paolo is sentenced to death, but his poison is already having an effect. Dying, Boccanegra reconciles with Fiesco, who learns that Amelia is his granddaughter.
