Anna Bolena, Opera by G. Donizetti
Gaetano Donizetti's operatic masterpiece, Anna Bolena, was based on the life of the famous Tudor Queen of England, Anne Boleyn, who was married to King Henry VIII. This production at the remarkable Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino in Florence highlights Donizetti's undisputed skill at writing historical operas for a modern audience. Anna Bolena may have been first performed as long ago as 26 December 1830 but it still more than stands up today as a work of sensitivity, dramatic intensity and musical sophistication.
The great composer was fascinated with the Tudor and Stuart periods of English – and Scottish – history, writing several operas in a similar vein, notably Maria Stuarda which tells the story of Mary, Queen of Scots. In Anna Bolena, he managed to successfully bring the personal tragedy behind one of the most famous episodes in Tudor history to life while vividly portraying the political machinations behind the scenes which drove events. The opera is fast-paced, too, opening at the stage in King Henry's life when – having already divorced his first wife, Catherine of Aragon – he has made up his mind to also rid himself of his second wife, Anna, so that he is free to marry his new lover, Jane Seymour.
Jane is Queen Anne's lady-in-waiting and the pair share a powerful yet delicately orchestrated duet, Sul suo capo aggravi un Dio. Both women understand that power lies with Henry but they also know their relationship to one another is shaped by divided loyalties. At this point, they enjoy very different positions within the King's affections but Donizetti's skill is such that audiences feel the two have a certain empathy for one another. In lesser hands, they might have been cast more as straightforward enemies. Donizetti does this by interpreting Felice Romani's libretto with delicacy, allowing the emotional complexity of the characters to emerge through the music.
One of the key features of Donizetti's orchestration in Anna Bolena is his use of almost constantly shifting musical moods. This compositional style helps to maintain the dramatic momentum demanded by the story, allowing the tension to build towards the opera's climactic final scene. Audiences only have limited chances to applaud the conclusions to arias and duets as bel canto set pieces, for example, as the music's forward momentum keeps driving the action.
This production of Anna Bolena at Florence's Teatro del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino showcases Donizetti's remarkable writing ability from the point in his career when he was already becoming widely regarded as one of the foremost bel canto opera composers of his generation.