Greek National Opera's Bold Anna Bolena Reimagined

Gaetano Donizetti’s setting of the final days of Henry VIII’s second wife, Anne Boleyn, as Anna Bolena, is a story of love and hate, loyalty and lies, and, ultimately, one woman’s death so another can take her place. In today’s world, however, Donizetti’s overly emotional opera can cause problems. The story can be the least of it all! The style, bel canto, relies on appreciation of a florid style of singing and ornamentation, where appreciation of the singer’s technique is as much a part of the performance as what the composer wrote.

In this new production by the Greek National Opera, the entire storyline has been set in a strange museum-like atmosphere, with each act set in a different time. The characters are made up like mannequins, painted dead white with bald heads (hair is later added to Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour). Stripes of red define the cheekbones. As in a museum setting, the bodies that hold the sumptuous costumes are designed to be ignored.

Act I: Jane Seymour (Miranda Makrynioti) moves through her world, 2026 (Greek National Opera)

The costumes, designed by Nicholas Georgiadis, are part of GNO’s history. Georgiadis (1923–2001) designed both the sets and costumes for GNO’s 1976 production, where they were praised for being ‘a perfect depiction of the Tudors’ world. Every image was like a tableau vivant…’ and was used in productions in 2000 and 2008. The 2008 production used only costumes, with the sets replaced by projections in a ‘minimalist scenographic approach’.

The costumes remain the most detailed part of this production, created in a sumptuous gold and black. The first act’s scenery is blocky and architectural, although elements can be turned and opened to show interior spaces. There is also a surrounding multi-level framework used by the chorus. In addition, the stage rises and lowers to reveal the museum’s workrooms.

Act II: Split stage with Henry VIII (Petros Magoulas) on the left and Anne (Maria Kosovitsa) on the right.
Seamstresses in their modern workrooms below, 2026 (Greek National Opera)

The director, Themelis Glynatsis, said ‘the core of the dramaturgy and the entire aesthetic of the performance revolve around the conflicts of different versions of historicity: the romantic and historically inaccurate portrayal of Anne Boleyn’s final days by the composer, Nicholas Georgiadis’ costumes for the 1976 staging of the work at the GNO, and our own historical perception’. Whereas most stage dramas seek to sweep the audience up into the action, this setting deliberately seems to keep the audience at a distance. You’re clearly standing outside and looking into the opera, appreciating the beautiful clothes and hearing the voices, but these tragic lives are only in your imagination. The blank faces cannot convey the despair that Donizetti wrote into the music.

The finale of the first Act is one of Donizetti’s gems: a gradual buildup of the story and the tension as each character adds to the discussion before the principals (Anne, her brother Rochefort and her former lover Percy) are led off to prison.

Gaetano Donizetti: Anna Bolena – Act I Scene 16: In quegli sguardi impresso (Anna, Enrico, Rochefort, Percy, Giovanna, Smeton) (Dimitra Theodossiou, soprano; Andrea Papi, bass; Paolo Battaglia, bass; Fabio Sartori, tenor; Sonia Ganassi, mezzo-soprano; Sonia Prina, contralto; Orchestra dei Pomeriggi Musicali di Milano; Tiziano Severini, cond.)

The set for the second act starts out looking like separate wooden cases, but in the course of the act, they are turned around to become museum displays, one with Henry’s clothes, another with Anne’s…and then some with real characters who sing from their cases.

Anne’s mad scene is one of the highlights of the evening, with Maria Kosovitsa in her debut in the role, in excellent voice. The aria, ‘Al dolce guidami’, where she wants to return to the happiness of her youth, was beautifully done. Donizetti extends the syllables until, for us, like for the mad Anna, they have no real meaning but are full of memory.

Gaetano Donizetti: Anna Bolena – Act II Scene 12: Al dolce guidami (Anna, Maids of Honour) (Dimitra Theodossiou, soprano; Circuito Lirico Regional Chorus; Orchestra dei Pomeriggi Musicali di Milano; Tiziano Severini, cond.)

It’s all an interesting idea, but the emotion is removed from the opera entirely. You really can’t feel much for a heroine who has to have an argument with her replacement while walking around sewing machines.

Act II: Anne and the sewing machines, 2026 (Greek National Opera) (photo by G. Antonoglou)

When Anne’s mannequin is removed from its case and tossed around the courtiers, you feel it’s just like the state of women in the world: if she’s not helping promote the king, she’s tossed aside.

There’s also a very curious sound curation of selections from what sound like political rallies. These ‘noise interruptions’ are listed in the notes as selections from the BBC, Pathé, and BFI; however, the sources of the noise (the speakers or the rallies) were unidentified and didn’t add much to the proceedings.

The hopelessness of Anne’s position and the lies that swirl around her cannot be alleviated by the truth, since everyone else’s word carries more weight, including that of her soon-to-be ex-husband.

The dead-white faces are a liability in the end, when even Henry tears off his makeup to become more human. The end result is an opera with very cutting-edge ideas in its presentation, but with a loss of empathy for the story and the music.