Music

Anna Bolena

REVIEWED BY DORIAN

David McVicar’s production of Donizetti’s Anna Bolena, which opened the New York Metropolitan Opera’s season, is darkly malevolent, so much so that the shadowy lighting design of Paule Constable is often murky. Robert Jones’ set is clever and uses moving grey walls against a palette of black, grey and white to suggest claustrophobia, with a blood-red bed symbolic of the title character’s future, while the costume design of Jenny Tiramani is bulky and multi-layered, seemingly straight out of Hans Holbein.

Musically, the production was uneven, as conductor Marco Armiliato produced moments of fierce excitement but without a sense of energy and commitment and, overall, lacked the tension necessary to sustain the libretto by Felice Romani, which condensed palace intrigue into melodramatic formula.

In the lead role, Anna Netrebko displayed a clean coloratura, as well as power and range, but her interpretation lacked the vulnerability demanded of her and showed little of the magnificence that made Maria Callas’ interpretation so memorable; yet in the final scene, when Anna is lapsing in and out of madness, she shone with vocally honeyed tones. Alas, her intonation wobbled occasionally and was less than electrifying.

As Henry, Ildar Abdrazakov was physically aggressive and vocally imposing in personifying calculated abuse of power. As Jane, Ekaterina Gubanova exhibited a large, dark and wondrous mezzo, while Stephan Costello, as true love Percy, struggled mightily with his high tessitura and was more comfortable in lighter, lyrical moments. As Smeaton, who is smitten with Anna, Tamara Mumford was boyishly ardent and delivered the night’s best performance with a gorgeous mezzo that never sounded strained. The Met Chorus was monolithic and often looked lost.

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