What is Anna Bolena?
{{italictitle}} '''''Anna Bolena''''' is an [[Italy|Italian]] [[opera]] in two acts. [[Gaetano Donizetti]] wrote the music to a [[libretto]] by Felice Romani. The opera was first performed in [[Milan]], on December 26, 1830. ''Anna Bolena'' was Donizetti's thirty-third opera. It was his first major success, and the work that established his reputation in [[Europe]]. The opera was long neglected until it was revived to great acclaim by [[Maria Callas]] at [[La Scala]] in Milan in 1957. It has since been regularly performed, notably by [[Joan Sutherland]], [[Montserrat Caballé]] and [[Beverly Sills]]. == Characters == * Anna Bolena - [[soprano]] * Giovanna Seymour - [[mezzo-soprano]] * Enrico VIII - [[bass (vocal range)|bass]] * Lord Percy - [[tenor]] * Smeaton - mezzo-soprano * Lord Rochfort - bass * Hervey - tenor == Plot == The action takes place in [[England]] in 1536. The opera relates the stormy relationship between King [[Henry VIII]] and his second wife [[Anne Boleyn]], and the king's new romantic interest in [[Jane Seymour]]. Anne is accused of treason and adultery and executed to make way for Jane to become his third wife. == References == * ''The Complete Dictionary of Opera & Operetta'', James Anderson, Wings Books, 1993. [[Category:Compositions by Gaetano Donizetti]] [[Category:1830s operas]] {{music-stub}}