Elīna Garanča shines in the Vienna State Opera´s Anna Bolena

Elīna Garanča - the star of the evening

Gaetano Donizetti composed altogether 65 operas, although only a handful of them have maintained a place in the international repertoire. Donizetti´s 30th opera, Anna Bolena (Anne Boleyn) was forgotten for almost 100 years, until it was revived by La Scala in a Lucino Visconti 1957 production with the great Maria Callas as Anna.

On April 2, last year, one of the most famous/hyped sopranos of our time, Anna Netrebko,  made her debut as Anna Bolena at the Vienna State Opera in a staging by Eric Génovèse. It was also the first performance ever of this opera at the Staatsoper.

The reviews were - as usual - rather mixed, although mostly on the positive side.

Having seen the HD recording of the Viennese Anna Bolena,
these are my first impressions:

The "star" of the evening was mezzo Elīna Garanča in the role of Jane Seymour. Garanča´s bel canto technique is flawless, and she is also an excellent actress.

Anna Netrebko as the Queen was also excellent, although not as convincing as Garanča.

Luisa Spinatelli´s 16th beautiful 16th century costumes were another of the evening´s delights. What a blessing, not to be forced to watch e.g. the guarding soldiers dressed in SS uniforms (an all too common "innovation" in modern opera stagings).

Ildebrando D’Arcangelo as Enrico VIII and Elisabeth Kulman as Smeton were also outstanding. 


Maestro Evelino Pido brought out the best in arguably the world´s best opera orchestra´s playing, and that is no small feat.   


Here is a sample from the Vienna performance, with Elīna Garanča: