''Simon Boccanegra'' (Simon Blackmouth, or more figuratively Simon The Liar) is a historic drama about the first Doge of Genoa, the titular Simon.

The opera ''Simon Boccanegra'' is based on a play by Antonio García Gutiérrez, and set to music by Music/GiuseppeVerdi with a text by his frequent collaborator Francesco Maria Piave. It was not a success at its 1857 premiere in Venice, but some time later, Verdi created a revised version in collaboration with poet Arrigo Boito, which premiered in Milan in 1881 and has become the basis for almost all performances since then.

One of Verdi's least famous operas, though the title role is a favorite of many star baritones, it breaks the Verdi mold in many ways, primarily by not having a completely tragic ending.

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!!This work contains examples of the following tropes:
* AdoptedIntoRoyalty: Downplayed. Illegitimate child Maria is adopted by the BlueBlood Grimaldis.
* AdoptiveNameChange: Maria Boccanegra is renamed Amelia Grimaldi after getting adopted by the Grimaldi family.
* AntiClimax: Simon is responsible for the deaths of Gabriele’s family, and it’s the primary reason Amelia keeps her parentage a secret from Gabriele. When she finally has no choice but to reveal it to the latter? He accepts it at once and switches to Simon’s side without an ounce of inner conflict.
* BasedOnATrueStory: [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simone_Boccanegra Simon Boccanegra]] is a historic figure, and his reign was turbulent and fraught with attempts on his life.
* BittersweetEnding: Boccanegra is poisoned and dying, but has had a good run as Doge, his enemies (including the man who poisoned him) are dead or exiled, he has reunited with his estranged daughter, reconciled with his father-in-law, seen his daughter marry the man she loves, and named the latter as his successor.
* CruelMercy: Fiesco wants to kill Albiani [[PapaWolf after finding out he was the one behind Amelia's kidnapping]], but decides against it... so that Albiani, who is at that point dragged off to the gallows, will bear the additional shame of a PublicExecution.
* DamselOutOfDistress: After getting kidnapped, Amelia rescues herself by threatening Lorenzino with the Doge’s vengeance. Lorenzino gets scared and lets her leave (it doesn’t save him, as Gabriele gets him before Simon does).
* DeathbedConfession: Facing execution, Albiani admits that he kidnapped Amelia and poisoned Simon.
* DiedInYourArmsTonight: Simon dies in his daughter's arms.
* DotingGrandparent: For all of Fiesco's disapproval of Simon Boccanegra, he genuinely wants to raise his granddaughter and is willing to reconcile with Simon if the latter only lets him take the girl into his care. Unfortunately, little Maria has by that point disappeared, but, ironically, Fiesco does become the one to take care of her after she is adopted by the Grimaldis.
* GoldDigger: Amelia is afraid Paolo Albiani wants to marry her because he is after the Grimaldi riches. When he meets her, he is very impressed by her beauty as well.
* HeinousnessRetcon: Paolo Albiani is introduced as a cunning politician, morally grey but ultimately good enough for Doge Simon Boccanegra to make him his trusted advisor. A TimeSkip of twenty-five years later, he is suddenly so evil that he kidnaps Amelia Grimaldi when the latter refuses to marry him and then poisons Simon after the latter condemns the kidnapping. And on top of that? Apparently, his villainy is so obvious that when Amelia first meets Simon and tells him Paolo is a wicked GoldDigger (and at that point, she has seen Paolo in person for several seconds), Simon immediately believes her, even though before the TimeSkip, he treats Paolo as firmly an ally.
* HonorBeforeReason: Fiesco wants to kill Simon, sure enough, but he isn’t going to do it in exchange for his own freedom and when Simon is asleep. He isn’t pleased that Simon got poisoned, either, he wanted "another end" for the Doge.
* JealousRomanticWitness: As Paolo Albiani is dragged off to the gallows, he is also forced to hear the wedding celebration of Amelia Grimaldi (on whom he has a VillainousCrush) and Gabriele Adorno. He brokenly cries out "The horror! the horror!" when he hears it.
* TheLastDance: While dying of poison administered by Paolo Albiani, Simon manages to reconcile with both Fiesco (his father-in-law) and Gabriele Adorno and reveal to them Amelia/Maria's true parentage, crush a rebellion against him, restore himself as a favorite of the people, appoint Adorno as the next Doge, have his murderer Albiani executed, and witness Amelia and Adorno's marriage.
* LoveObstructingParents: Jacopo Fiesco locked his daughter Maria up after her affair with Boccanegra and wouldn't let them get married. Predictably, it just led to Maria's death and a huge mess of drama and misunderstandings that lasted twenty-five years.
* MutualKill: Albiani fatally poisons Boccanegra, who then manages to have the former sent to the gallows and executed before succumbing.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Adorno is deeply remorseful when he realizes he was needlessly jealous of Amelia ''and'' almost killed her father.
* NotGoodWithRejection: Albiani kidnaps Amelia after she refuses to marry him. And after she escapes and complains to the Doge, he slanders her before her beloved Adorno by telling him she sleeps with Simon.
* ObviouslyEvil: Starting from after the TimeSkip, everyone inexplicably knows Paolo is evil but he inexplicably remains Simon’s right-hand man.
* OrphansPlotTrinket: Amelia has a locket with her mother’s portrait. When Simon sees it, he realises she is his daughter.
* OutlivingOnesOffspring: Fiesco's first appearance is in the Prologue, where he sings [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7cwjbO4zaM a whole aria lamenting the death of his beloved daughter Maria]].
-->''"The wounded spirit of a sad parent\\
Was kept in the agony of shame and grief."''
* ParentalSubstitute: "Father Andrea", really Jacopo Fiesco, is like a father to Amelia Grimaldi. He is unaware that she is really Maria and his own granddaughter.
* PoorCommunicationKills: One can understand Simon not condemning Paolo straightaway – the guy has power at court. But he could have legally acknowledged Amelia as his daughter and spared everyone a lot of problems. He has no legitimate children who would be troubled by her existence. Such a move would have made Fiesco switch to his side with lightning speed and maybe even removed Amelia’s claim on the Grimaldi fortune (and there goes Paolo Albiani’s motive, at least one of the two motives, in wanting to marry her).
* RaisedByRival: Simon’s daughter ends up being raised in the family of his political enemies.
* RelativeError: Adorno is quick to believe Amelia is the Doge’s mistress, due to their sudden closeness. Simon reveals that she is in fact his daughter before things get ''completely'' out of hand.
* ReplacementGoldfish: The real Amelia Grimaldi died in childhood, so her parents adopted an orphan girl and called her Amelia instead.
* SuddenlySuitableSuitor: Inverted. Fiesco tells Gabriele Adorno that Amelia is, in fact, only a Grimaldi by adoption and really is an orphan of unknown background. Gabriele doesn’t care, and Fiesco proudly announces he is indeed worthy of Amelia.
* TimeSkip: The original version has a 25-year time skip between the prologue and the first act, which contains pretty much the entirety of Simon's reign.
* UnexpectedKindness: Amelia expects no good from Simon, who is her family's political enemy. Instead, he hands her the official pardon of her exiled brothers, and she is amazed at such kindness.