Anna Bolena

The Vienna State Opera is world famous for its architecture, history, and productions. Last night, we were fortunate enough to attend Gaetano Donizetti's production of Anna Bolena, with soprano Anna Netrebko in the lead role, Luca Pisaroni as Henry VIII, and Ekaterina Semenchuk as Jane Seymore.

Anne Bolen was the 2nd wife of Henry VIII but was England's Queen for only three years before being put to death on the questionable charges of adultery and treason. The Vienna State Opera first presented this three hour production in 2011 which also was Anna Netrebko' first appearance in a dramatic title role. While last night's scenery was a bit stark, the costumes were beautifully done and all of the cast singers were fantastic. We had a wonderful time and enjoyed this performance immensely.

The playbill for last night's performance.

The audience was full when the orchestra began warming up for the overture.

Even the box seats filled up.

The ensemble cast members.

The principle characters with the conductor taking the final curtain call.

Lead performer Anna Netrebko.

Alexandra and Rok from Slovenia who spent the evening with us, sharing this opera. They drove for 3.5 hours to be here for tonight's performance and then returned to Slovenia right afterwards. Rok was an aficionado of opera while this was Alexandra's first experience with this type of music.