Stiffelio had provoked the censorship board because of “the immoral and rough” storylines of a Protestant minister deceived by his wife and also because making the characters German did not please an Italian audience, although, as Budden notes, the opera "enjoyed a limited circulation (in Italy), but with the title changed to Guglielmo Wellingrode, the main protagonist now a German minister of state".

[1] Verdi had rejected an 1852 request to write a new last act for the Wellingrode version,[1] but, by spring 1856, in collaboration with his original librettist, Francesco Maria Piave, he decided to rewrite the story line and make a small number of musical changes and additions.

[1] Kimbell notes that "hints" [3] came from the work of Walter Scott, whose novel of 1825, The Betrothed, would "already have been familiar to Italian audiences through Giovanni Pacini's 1829 opera, Il Contestabile di Chester".

The rewriting was delayed until after March 1857 by the preparation for Paris of Le trouvère, the French version of Il trovatore, and Verdi's work with Piave on Simon Boccanegra.

When Verdi and Strepponi arrived there on 23 July, they found both librettist and conductor, Angelo Mariani (with whom he had become friends over the previous years and who had been chosen to conduct the new opera) working together.

While Phillips-Matz notes that there was "hysteria" at Verdi's presence, there was also opposition to Aroldo that was combined with an influx of people from other cities anxious to see the new opera.

[6] By the time of the premiere, considerable changes had been made to the three-act Stiffelio, the prime one being an added fourth act with new material, described by conductor Mariani to Giovanni Ricordi as "a stupendous affair; you'll find in it a storm, a pastoral chorus, and an Angelus Dei treated in canon and beautifully wrought".

[7] Lina became Mina; Stiffelio, as discussed, was now Aroldo; Stankar morphed into Egberto; Jorg, the bass role, emerged as Briano.

[8] Verdi had chosen to stage the premiere in Bologna, but was convinced by Giovanni Ricordi, his publisher and friend, to move it to Rimini.

[9][10] Verdi distrusted the Marzi brothers after they had modified Simon Boccanegra's production in a theatre in Reggio Emilia without his consent.

[12][13][14][15] At Verdi's insistence,[8] the inaugural cast included soprano Marcellina Lotti Della Santa,[8][16] Pancani as tenor, and baritone Gaetano Ferri [it].

The Marzi brothers completed the cast with soprano Giuseppina Medori [ca], mezzo-soprano Placida Corvetti, and bass Giovan Battista Cornago, with Angelo Mariani as conductor.

The performance included 38 choristers, La Fenice's corps de ballet, led by Giovannina Pitteri and Virgilio Calori [pl], at least 60 extras, and 18 band members.

[8][9][10] The inaugural season consisted of twenty-two shows and some repeats, budgeted at 8,800 scudi, of which 5,000 were paid by Rimini's municipal government, and 3,800 by the box owners.

[17] The winter carnival season of 1858 saw productions in Venice at La Fenice, Cremona, Parma (which chose it over the original Simon Boccanegra),[18] Florence, and Rome.

[17] In 1859, it was given in Malta and then, in the following two years, Aroldo appeared on stages in Genoa, Trieste, Lisbon, and Palermo at the Teatro Massimo Bellini.

Directed by Manlio Benzi, it was set in Rimini between the Italian campaign in Ethiopia and the theatre's destruction during the Second World War on 28 December 1943.

Then Mina enters distraught and remorseful, confessing her adultery (ciel, ch'io respiri / "Heavens, let me breathe").

She prays as Briano and Aroldo enter, the latter concerned about his wife's state of mind given that she had been his inspiration during the long period that he was away fighting the Saracens.

Snatching away the unfinished letter, he reads the words addressed not to Godvino but to Aroldo - "I am no longer worthy of you" - and realizes that he was not mistaken.

He begins to demand that Mina keep silent and ensure Aroldo's continued love (Duet: Dite che il fallo a tergere / "You mean that your heart lacks the strength to wipe away your guilt?")

Briano approaches Aroldo and explains what he has seen, pointing across the room to Enrico, Mina's cousin, as the one who planted the letter and who then picked up the book.

Mina's attempts to stall fail, and Aroldo breaks open the locked book and a letter drops from it to the floor.

With Briano's arrival and his attempts to calm his friend ("my heart has lost everything", Aroldo cries, while the chorus of praying parishioners can be heard coming from the church), all join in a plea for forgiveness.

Aroldo explains to Mina that they need to talk since he will be leaving that evening and that they must part (Opposto è il calle che in avvenire / "In the future, our lives must follow opposite paths").

He adds that she can redeem herself from dishonour by marrying the man who has captured her heart, and he presents her with a divorce paper to sign.