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Schedule - Deutsche Oper Berlin

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Simon Boccanegra

Giuseppe Verdi [1813 – 1901]

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Information on the piece

Oper in einem Prolog und drei Akten
Text von Francesco Maria Piave, Giuseppe Montanelli und Arrigo Boito nach dem Drama „Simón Bocanegra“ von Antonio García Gutiérrez
Uraufführung der ersten Fassung am 17. März 1857 im Teatro La Fenice Venedig
Uraufführung der zweiten Fassung am 24. März 1881 im Teatro alla Scala Mailand
Premiere am 29. Januar 2023 an der Deutschen Oper Berlin
Fassung von 1881, ergänzt um das Vorspiel der Fassung von 1857

3 hrs / with interval

In Italian with German and English surtitles

45 Minuten vor Vorstellungsbeginn: Einführung im Rang-Foyer rechts

recommended from 15 years
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The programme booklet
Blättern Sie sich durch das Programmheft oder laden Sie es als PDF herunter: Externer Link zu Issuu
Our thanks to our partners

Mit Unterstützung des Förderkreises der Deutschen Oper Berlin e. V.

About the performance

On the work
The Republic of Genoa is split into two camps headed by their respective arch rivals, Simon Boccanegra and Fiesco, who have been at loggerheads for decades. Yet the two men are connected by a long-dead woman – Fiesco’s daughter, the lover of Simon – who bore Simon a daughter named Amelia, who in turn vanished into care as an infant. When Amelia reappears 25 years later, she becomes a pawn in a power struggle that eventually claims Simon. The original version of SIMON BOCCANEGRA, which premiered in 1857, is one of Verdi’s explorations into the dichotomy between public actions and private urges. Here, the stark differences between the two old men, Simon and Fiesco, set the stage for suspicion, conspiracy and assassination – with little prospect of a happy end. And not even the victory of one side can guarantee a lasting peace.

This gloomy outlook, enhanced by Verdi in his reworked version of 1881 – our production -, is perhaps one of the reasons why SIMON BOCCANEGRA remains less of an audience favourite than the popular operas of the 1850s such as IL TROVATORE and UN BALLO IN MASCHERA – and this despite a portrayal of Simon and Fiesco as haunting and melodious as that of any of Verdi’s other main characters.

On the production
Russian director Vasily Barkhatov, who made his debut in the Bismarckstrasse in 2017 with a well-received world premiere of Aribert Reimann’s L’INVISIBLE, focuses here on the corrupting effect of power. His Simon Boccanegra has lost sight of the political ideals that had fired him decades earlier and is now only interested in protecting his position. And just as Verdi was fully cognizant of the political factions and intrigues in the burgeoning nation-state of Italy, so Barkhatov sees parallels between the drama of the Genoese Doge and power constellations that are still encountered today.

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Das kommt: Simon Boccanegra
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