Anna Bolena
directed and designed by John Pascoe
 
 
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Anna: Sì taciturna e mesta mai non vidi assemblea… ('So silent and sad have I never seen the assembly…')
Royal Opera House, London, 1988
Act I sc i: Within the palace.
Concept rendering by John Pascoe
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Anna: Io sentii sulla mia mano la sua lacrima corrente… della fiamma più cocente si diffonde nel mio cor. ('I felt his tears fall on my hand … and an even hotter flame spreads though my heart.')
Royal Opera House, London, 1988
Act I sc ii: Outside the palace at dawn.
Concept rendering by John Pascoe.
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Royal Opera House, London, 1988
Act I sc i: Anna (Dame Joan Sutherland).
photo: Clive Barda
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Royal Opera House, London, 1988
Act I sc ii: Enrico (Dimitri Kavrakos)
photo: Clive Barda
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Enrico: Desta sì tosto, e tolta oggi al riposo. ('Awake so early, and taken today from your rest.')
Royal Opera House, London, 1988
Act I sc ii: Outside the palace at dawn.
Enrico (Dimitri Kavrakos) greets Anna (Dame Joan Sutherland).
photo: Clive Barda
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Enrico: E innocente io vi credei, perché tal sembraste a lei… ('And innocent I believed you to be, since thus you seemed to her…")
Royal Opera House, London, 1988
Act I sc ii: Enrico (Dimitri Kavrakos) discovers that Percy (John Aler) has returned. Anna (Dame Joan Sutherland) endeavours to control her feelings, while Enrico dissembles.
photo: Clive Barda
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Royal Opera House, London, 1988
Act I sc iii: The young princess Elizabeth is entertained by Anna's ladies-in-waiting.
photo: Clive Barda
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Smeton: Odo romor… si appressa a queste stanze alcun… troppo indugiai. ('I hear a sound… someone is approaching this room… I delayed too long.')
Royal Opera House, London, 1988
Act I sc iii: The Queen's page boy Smeton (Eirian James) hides within the drapes of the royal bed when he hears footsteps approaching.
photo: Clive Barda
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Percy: S'ei t'aborre, io t'amo ancora qual t'amava in basso stato… ('If he hates you, I still love you as I first loved you in your lowly state")
Royal Opera House, London, 1988
Act I sc iii: Percy (John Aler) tells Anna (Dame Joan Sutherland) of his endless love for her that began long before she became queen.
photo: Clive Barda
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Percy: Ogni tempesta ria in te s'acquieta, e vien da te mia luce. ('Every cruel tempest calms itself near you and from you comes my light')
Royal Opera House, London, 1988
Act I sc iii: Percy (John Aler) makes love to and embraces Anna (Dame Joan Sutherland).
photo: Clive Barda
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Anna: Non condannarmi, o Re. ('Do not condemn me, O King.')
Enrico: Poter morire adesso, meglio sarìa per te. ('It would be better for you now if you were able to die.')
Royal Opera House, London, 1988
Act I sc iii: Anna (Dame Joan Sutherland) and Percy have been surprised by the king. Anna is accused by Enrico (Dimitri Kavrakos) of gross infidelity.
photo: Clive Barda
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Enrico: In separato carcere tutti costor sian tratti. ('To separate prisons let them be taken.')
Royal Opera House, London, 1988
Act I sc iii: Enrico (Dimitri Kavrakos) orders Anna, Percy and Smeton to be thrown into separate jails.
photo: Clive Barda
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Anna: Un detto sol! ('Only one word!')
Enrico: Non io, sol denno i giudici la tua discolpa udir. ('Not I, the judges alone should hear your excuses.')
Royal Opera House, London, 1988
Act I sc iii: Anna (Dame Joan Sutherland) is horrified as Enrico (Dimitir Kavrakos) declares that only the judges can decide her fate.
photo: Clive Barda
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Anna: Giudici… ad Anna!('Judges… for Anna!')
Royal Opera House, London, 1988
Act I sc iii: Anna (Dame Joan Sutherland) cries out in despair at the idea of being judged, but Enrico (Dimitir Kavrakos) is unmoved.
photo: courtesy Francis Menotti
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Anna: Ah! segnata è la mia sorte, se mi accusa chi condanna. ('Ah! My fate is sealed, if the one who accuses me is the one who condemns me.')
Royal Opera House, London, 1988
Act I sc iii: Anna (Dame Joan Sutherland) declares that her fate is inevitable when the king is both her accuser and her judge.
photo: Clive Barda
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Chorus: Oh! dove mai ne andarono le turbe adulatrici, Che intorno a lei venivano ne' giorni suoi felici! ('Oh! wherever have the sycophantic crowds gone, who gathered around her in her happy days!')
Royal Opera House, London, 1988
Act II sc i: In Anna's apartments, the ladies of her court lament Anna's abandonment by the people.
photo: Clive Barda
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Anna: Seymour… a me ritorni!… Non mi obliasti tu?… Sorgi… ('Seymour… returned to me! Have you not forgotten me? Arise!')
Royal Opera House, London, 1988
Act II sc i: In Anna's apartments Giovanna (Suzanne Mentzer) arrives and, distraught, falls down weeping in front of Anna (Dame Joan Sutherland), who greets her joyfully.
photo: Clive Barda
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Giovanna: Ah! non li avessi mai proferiti quei funesti giuri, che mi han perduta. ('Ah! If only I had never offered you those deadly oaths which doomed me!')
Royal Opera House, London, 1988
Act II sc ii: A secret room in the palace.
Giovanna (Suzanne Mentzer) tells Enrico (Dimitir Kavrakos) that she wishes she had never fallen in love with him.
photo: Clive Barda
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Percy and Rochefort: Amico!… Addio. ('Friend! Goodbye.')
Royal Opera House, London, 1988
Act II sc iii: Inside the prison.
Percy (John Aler) and Rochefort (Peter Rose) bid each other farewell, before being taken off to be executed.
photo: courtesy Francis Menotti
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Chorus: Chi può vederla a ciglio asciutto in tanto affanno, in tanto lutto, e non sentirsi spezzare il cor? ('Who can see her dry-eyed in such anguish, in such mourning, and not feel their heart break?)
Royal Opera House, London, 1988
Act II sc iv: Anna's cell in the Tower of London.
The ladies of Anna's court lament Anna's pitiful state.
photo: Clive Barda
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Anna: Al dolce guidami castel natio, ai verdi platani, al queto rio, che i nostri mormora sospiri ancor. ('Guide me to the sweet mansion of my birth, to the green plane-trees to the quiet river, that still murmurs with our sighs.')
Royal Opera House, London, 1988
Act II sc iv: Anna's cell in the Tower of London.
Anna (Dame Joan Sutherland) dreams happily of returning to the castle where she was born and where she first knew and loved Percy.
photo: Clive Barda
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