Donizetti - The Three Queens (Anna Bolena / Maria Stuarda / Roberto Devereux)

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Music reviews of Donizetti - The Three Queens (Anna Bolena / Maria Stuarda / Roberto Devereux)

Music Review: Italian Opera As Vintage Drama: You Have To Hear This!
Rating: 5 Stars

Anna Bolena tells the tragic story of Anne Boylen, Henry 8th's second wife and the most famous. Anne never gave him any male heirs (she had miscarriages) and only successfully bore him a daughter, but what a daughter! She turned out to be Queen Elizabeth I. Henry 8th accuses Anne of adultery and has her beheaded, eventhough his sole intention was to get rid of her in order to marry another. In the opera, Henry 8th is a bass role sung masterfully by Paul Plishka, who does not have a single aria but is well developed through ensembles, duets and recitatives. His jealousy and downright nasty behavior is clear though Plishka's performance. He is already bent on marrying Jane Seymour, whose role is sung by dramatic/mezzo Shirley Verret, in a knock-out performance. Beverly's portrayal of Anne is effectively dramatic and touching, we genuinely feel for the tragic victim of Henry 8th's unjust anger. Julius Rudel conducts an upbeat, dramatic score, superb in all the rousing ensembles. Shirley Verret's greatest moments are in her entrance aria, her "La Mia Fama" and her duet at the close of the second act with Anne. Stuart Burrows's portrayal of Percy is unique, he is an elegant tenor di grazie and his duets with Anne are exceptional, a man in love with Anne, wanting to free her from her tragic situation, but is powerless against greater forces. Beverly Sills' great moments are in her aria/ensemble "Non Va Sguardo", full of spiraling vocal trills, "Come Un Innocente Giovine", "Cielo, a mie lunghi spasimi" and her final fiery aria, in which she prepares to be executed and watches Henry marry Jane from afar, the great aria "Copia Iniqua".

Maria Stuarda tells the story of Mary Stewart, a controversial Catholic queen who proved to be a great threat to the British monarchy, especially a rival to Elizabeth I. She is sentenced to death after what was supposedly a conspiracy against the Queen. In this opera, Elizabeth and Mary Stewart (Sills and Farrel) confront at the castle prison Fotheringay and in a sublime duet-battle, Anne insults Elizabeth with the words "Figlia Impura Di Bolena" and "Vil Bastarda". Notice how venom is in every one of Anna's lines, including her shout "No!." Eilen Farrel steals the show, for her more dramatic soprano character makes Mary Stewart the victim that Donizetti made her to be. Sills' great moments are her coloratura aria "O Nube!" and the subsequent aria before she confronts the Queen, her voice raises above the closing sextet of Act 2, her confession scene, her prayer aria, full of high sustained lines as a choral ensemble sing in unison, and her execution scene.

Roberto Deveraux has got to be the greatest of the three. In 1970, it was first performed by Placido Domingo and Beverly Sills. It got Beverly a cover on Time Magazine. Next to Bellini's Norma, the raging Queen Elizabeth in this opera is one of opera's most dramatic characters. Peter Glossop sings Roberto in this recording, as Domingo was contractually unavailable, and he is most brilliant in his aria with Sills, which follows her line "un lampo, un lampo!", his duet with Sara and his Prison Scene. Beverly Sills' Queen has a lot of variety. In her aria "A Ritorna Qual Ti Spero" she sings about her love for Devereaux through coloratura passages, ,she inflects vibrato on the words "amor" in the lines "amor ti guida". In Act 2, the passive queen no longer exists and she has raging scales that are the equal of Bellini's Norma. Example: Un perfido! Un vile!" at one points she slaps Devereaux, she uses venom on the word "obstinato " and "Fero di morte un gel!". Condemning Devereaux to death, she shouts "Va!" with delicious wickedness which follows a striking ensemble "Va La Morte Sul Copo Ti Pende". Her final moments, she becomes genuinely guilty and full of remorse for having Deveraux killed and not being able to stop it. "Vivi Ingrato" is the soprano equivalen of "Vesti La Giubba" from I Pagliaci. Her remorse is choked in her concluding lines "sospirar" and finally, the ending is rousing as she concludes with "Quel Sangre Versato" proclaiming that she has lost something greater than the throne: her true love. If there is a greater opera, I'd like to hear about it.

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