Anna Bolena - Opernhaus Zürich (2015) - Anna Bolena - Opernhaus Zürich (2015)

Description

For his opera Anna Bolena, which was premièred in 1830, Gaetano Donizetti took history itself as his model – the marital tragedy of King Henry VIII, who in 1533 divorced his wife without the permission of the Pope in order to marry Anne Boleyn, of whom he tired after three years. The opera begins with Queen Anne rightly fearing that Henry has set his sights on Jane Seymour, her lady-in-waiting. Anne’s childhood friend, Lord Percy, provides the King with the welcome evidence of his wife’s alleged infidelity. At a court hearing she is found guilty of adultery and sentenced to death. Before being led to the scaffold, she forgives all. Anna Bolena was and remains a classic role for many great sopranos, as it places the highest vocal demands on the protagonist. The opera is only rarely performed. After her triumphs in Vienna and New York, Anna Netrebko, the prima donna assoluta of our time, will now sing this role in Zurich for the first time.

More information is available on the operahouse's official website.