Anna Bolena marked a turning point in the career of Gaetano Donizetti. He was already known throughout the operatic world as a successful composer of opere buffe, but his serious operas had not been accepted by the critics or the public. With Anna Bolena, an opera seria in two acts, Donizetti became one of Italy's foremost operatic composers, respected and loved internationally as well as at home.

The opera was composed with Donizetti's typical haste. Contracted to compose an opera for the Teatro Carcano on August 1, 1830, Donizetti didn't receive his text from Felice Romani until November 10, but the opera went into rehearsal exactly one month later and premiered on December 26 of the same year. Anna Bolena is the first of what are known as Donizetti's "queen" operas, all set during England's Tudor period. It was both the first opera to be written and also the first chronologically in its setting. The subsequent operas show Elizabeth I, Anne's daughter, both as a foil to Mary Queen of Scots (Maria Stuarda), and as an aging, jealous lover (in Roberto Devereux). These operas are as well known for their dramatic as for their musical demands, especially for the soprano. In each, the soprano has a fiery scene that closes the opera, after some extremely demanding music preceding the last act. Part of the success of the Anna Bolena premiere was due to the stellar cast, which included the soprano Giuditta Pasta as Anna and the tenor G.B. Rubini in the role of Percy.

The subject for the opera is taken from English history and concerns the fate of one of Henry VIII's many wives. Romani turned Anne Boleyn's life into a powerful drama of innocence and injustice, heroism, and love. The libretto is superior, and the text contains many dramatic and musical opportunities for the composer. Both acts are carefully structured, and each twist in the plot and each detail in the score moves the drama forward. Arias are carefully prepared; love scenes and conflict scenes are juxtaposed with scenes for chorus or for larger groups of players. And brilliant ensembles bring the main portions of the drama to closure.

The characters are thoroughly developed, particularly those of Giovanna (Jane) Seymour and Anna Bolena—rivals in love and in music. Giovanna's music is afflicted, impassioned, and sung in the lower, richer voice of the mezzo-soprano. Her character provides much of the tension and drama of the opera as she torments herself over the fate of her rival. Her love scenes with Enrico are scenes of conflict as she pleads for Anna's life and pits her will against that of the monarch's. However, Anna has the heroine's part. Contrary to the portrait of her often painted by historians, Felice Romani paints her as a noble martyr who faces her downfall with heroic fortitude and even forgiveness. Her music exudes radiant innocence and heroism.

Prison scenes were standard fare in traditional serious opera, and Romani's drama contains not one but two of them; one for Percy and Rochefort that takes place in the Tower of London, and one for the solitary Anna. They allow for a change of scene and mood, for introspection and reflection, and for a solitary character to reveal herself or himself before the audience. In between the two prison scenes is a scene devoted entirely to a somber chorus, which makes the section into a tripartite structure. Anna's subsequent music is finely spun, with light accompaniments, delicate use of timbres, declamation, and arioso vocal writing. It is a dramatic and musical showcase for the soprano, who must traverse a full range of emotions and technical demands in the course of a short text. Anna is also given a preghiera, or prayer, to sing as she faces her end heroically, forgiving the iniquity and injustice of Henry and Giovanna.

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