Anna Bolena

Gaetano Donizetti

Operas Enrico di Borgogna (1818) Pietro il grande (1819) Zoraida di Granata (1822) La zingara (1822) Alfredo il grande (1823) L'ajo nell'imbarazzo (1824) Emilia di Liverpool (1824) Alahor in Granata (1826) Elvida (1826) Gabriella di Vergy (1826) Olivo e Pasquale (1827) Otto mesi in due ore (1827) L'esule di Roma (1828) Alina, regina di Golconda (1828) Gianni di Calais (1828) Il castello di Kenilworth (1829) Il diluvio universale (1830) Imelda de' Lambertazzi (1830) Anna Bolena (1830) Le convenienze ed inconvenienze teatrali (1831) Gianni di Parigi (1831) Francesca di Foix (1831) Fausta (1832) Ugo, conte di Parigi (1832) L'elisir d'amore (1832) Sancia di Castiglia (1832) Parisina (1833) Torquato Tasso (1833) Lucrezia Borgia (1833) Rosmonda d'Inghilterra (1834) Gemma di Vergy (1834) Marino Faliero (1835) Maria Stuarda (1835) Lucia di Lammermoor (1835) Belisario (1836) Il campanello (1836) Betly, o La capanna svizzera (1836) L'assedio di Calais (1836) Roberto Devereux (1837) Maria de Rudenz (1838) Poliuto (1838) Pia de' Tolomei (1838) Le duc d'Albe (1839) Lucie de Lammermoor (1839) La fille du régiment (1840) Les martyrs (1840) La favorite (1840) Adelia (1841) Rita (1841) Maria Padilla (1841) Linda di Chamounix (1842) Don Pasquale (1843) Maria di Rohan (1843) Dom Sébastien (1843) Caterina Cornaro (1844)

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Anna Bolena is a tragedia lirica, or opera, in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Felice Romani wrote the Italian libretto after Ippolito Pindemonte's Enrico VIII ossia Anna Bolena and Alessandro Pepoli's Anna Bolena, both telling of the life of Anne Boleyn. It premiered on December 26, 1830 at the Teatro Carcano, Milan.

The duet "Sul suo capo aggravi un Dio" between Anna (soprano) and Jane Seymour (mezzo soprano) is considered one of the finest in the entire operatic repertoire.

Performance History

Anna Bolena was performed infrequently during the latter half of 19th century and early 20th century, but it was revived with more frequency in the post-war years. On December 30, 1947, the opera was performed at Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, celebrating the centennial of this theatre, which opened in 1847 with Anna Bolena. The cast was Sara Scuderi as Anna Bolena, Giulietta Simionato as Jane Seymour and Cesare Siepi as Henry VIII.

In April 1957, the opera was revived at La Scala for Maria Callas in a lavish production directed by Luchino Visconti, and it proved to be one of her greatest triumphs. Similarly it was one of the last new roles performed by Dame Joan Sutherland. Other famous interpreters of the role were Leyla Gencer, Beverly Sills, Montserrat Caballé, Renata Scotto and Edita Gruberova.

Anna Bolena is regularly performed now and there are several recordings of it.

Roles

Synopsis

Recordings

• 1957 - Maria Callas (Anna), Giulietta Simionato (Giovanna), Gianni Raimondi (Percy), Nicola Rossi-Lemeni (Enrico), Gabriella Carturan (Smeaton) - Chorus and Orchestra of La Scala, Gianandrea Gavazzeni - (EMI)

• 1958 - Leyla Gencer (Anna Bolena), Giulietta Simionato (Giovanna Seymour), Plinio Clabassi (Enrico VIII) Aldo Bertocci (Lord Riccardo Percy), Silvio Majonica (Lord Rochefort), Anna-Maria Rota (Smeton), Mario Carlin (Sir Hervey), Orchestra Sinfonica e Coro della RAI di Milano, Gianandrea Gavazzeni - (Melodram)

• 1965 - Leyla Gencer (Anna Bolena), Patricia Johnson (Giovanna Seymour), Carlo Cava (Enrico VIII), Juan Oncina (Lord Riccardo Percy), Maureen Morelle (Smeton), Don Garrard (Lord Rochefort), Lloyd Smith (Sir Hervey), Orchestra and Chorus of the Glyndebourne Festival, Gianandrea Gavazzeni - (Melodram)

• 1973 - Beverly Sills (Anna), Shirley Verrett (Giovanna), Stuart Burrows (Percy), Paul Plishka (Enrico), Patricia Kern (Smeaton) - John Alldis Choir, London Symphony Orchestra, Julius Rudel - (DG)

• 1994 - Edita Gruberova (Anna), Delores Ziegler (Giovanna), Jose Bros (Percy), Stefano Palatchi (Enrico), Helene Schneidermann (Smeaton) - Hungarian Radio Chorus and Orchestra, Elio Boncompagni - Nightingale Classics

External links

• Libretto (Italian)
• Plot summary