Gaetano Donizetti's Anna Bolena — With Anna Netrebko and Elīna Garanča
Vienna State Opera
Cast
Eric Génovèse — Stage director
Jacques Gabel — Stage design
Claire Sternberg — Scenography
Luisa Spinatelli — Costumes designer
Program notes
England, 1536. Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII, is arrested for high treason in the Tower of London. This forms the central theme of Donizetti’s two-act tragic opera, Anna Bolena. Premiered on 26 December 1830 at the Teatro Carcano in Milan to “overwhelming success,” the masterpiece returns to the Vienna State Opera in a brilliant production by Eric Génovèse, featuring Anna Netrebko as Anne Boleyn and Ildebrando D'Arcangelo as Henry VIII. The Vienna State Opera Orchestra and Chorus evoke the highly expressive and Romantic nature of this work under the skilful baton of Evelino Pidò.
