About the work
Opera (Tragedia) in four acts by Arrigo Boito, who also wrote the libretto. Boito began composing the work around 1875 and worked on it for over forty years; at his death in 1918 the first three acts were orchestrated and the fourth only partly so. Antonio Smareglia, Vincenzo Tommasini and Arturo Toscanini assembled a performable version from it; Toscanini also conducted the premiere on 1 May 1924 at Milan's La Scala, with Aureliano Pertile as Nerone and Rosa Raisa as Asteria.
Plot
Tormented by the murder of his mother, Emperor Nero is drawn into the schemes of the sorcerer Simon Mago, while the deacon Fanuèl leads a persecuted Christian community. Asteria wavers between the imperial court and the Christians, caught between Simon Mago's intrigues and Nero's growing suspicion. The action ends with the Great Fire of Rome, which Simon Mago helps to set.
Cultural significance
For an originally planned fifth act depicting Nero's death, Boito left only a prose sketch; the performed version therefore ends with the fire. Despite its celebrated Scala premiere, Nerone has remained rare in the repertoire: its US premiere did not take place until 1982, in concert at Carnegie Hall.