Beverly Sills - Donizetti: ANNA BOLENA, Mad scene live in a solo concert, 1974

THE MUSIC: "Anna Bolena" is the second of Donizetti's four operas about English Tudor queens. It premiered in Milan in 1830. It's a large-scale work, and the leading soprano role is a grand one, written for Giuditta Pasta. In his book "The Assoluta Voice in Opera, 1797-1847," Geoffrey S. Riggs considers Anna to be the most difficult of the nine core or "defining" assoluta roles that he identifies. Per Riggs, these soprano assoluta roles embody these characteristics: "extremely intricate and fully heroic fioratura, widely varied tessitura, a range extending up to at least high B natural and down to at least low B natural with a least one semitone beyond that in either direction, and a frequently emotive and energetic orchestra accompanying a dynamic vocal line necessitating completely heroic vocal tone." He also posits that while many assoluta roles contain those elements woven throughout the score, "Anna Bolena" is one of the few instances where they are all actually concentrated in just one scene: the final sequence of her long mad scene. The vocal compass in this section (and the entire role) is from Low B-flat up to High C, though many coloratura sopranos will interpolate more high notes and end on a High E-flat. The challenges of the title role may be partially to blame for its near disappearance from the repertoire for decades until it was revived at La Scala in 1957 for Maria Callas. It has been performed much more frequently in recent decades as a vehicle to showcase star sopranos.

This recording is from a live concert recital Sills gave in Los Angeles with Zubin Mehta conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic. She sings the full mad scene herself, sans accompanying singers or chorus. It is not totally complete as there are a few minor trims of a couple measures here or there. This scene was part of Sills' orchestra concert series tour in 1974 and 1975 (San Francisco, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Ann Arbor, San Juan, and Sarasota Springs).

THE SONGBIRD: Beverly Sills (1929 - 2007) was my first diva and the reason I became infatuated with coloratura sopranos and started collecting vocal music. Sills holds a special place in my musical life to this day so I'm happy to share this rare item that is not currently posted on YouTube. Sills first sang Anna Bolena at the New York City Opera on October 13, 1973 and performed the opera with NYCO 16 times.