Giuseppe Verdi's opera 'Simon Boccanegra' was first perfotmed in 1857. Only after a revision in 1880 with new texts by Arrigo Boito, the librettist of 'Otello', the Opera became a success and is even played nowadays. The aria 'Il lacerato spirito' is sung by Fiesco in the first act op the Opera: Fiesco sings sorrowfully that his daughter Maria has died. He rages against the absent Simon Boccanegra and then accuses the Virgin Mary of not protecting his daughter. After realizing that he has committed blasphemy, he prays to her, hoping that she will forgive him.