As most Verdi mavens are aware, the original version of Simon Boccanegra (1857) was a failure. With the help of librettist Arrigo Boito, himself a first-rate composer, Verdi reworked the opera, turning out a new rendition in 1881 substantially different from, and better-crafted than, the original. As the headnote above indicates, this is the 1881 Simon, the version one almost always encounters in opera houses or on recordings. Indeed, the original was only first staged outside Italy in 1995, when it was given at Covent Garden during a Verdi festival.