In its continuing effort to bring the world’s greatest opera performances to the movie screens of the hinterlands, New York’s Metropolitan Opera offers its high-def Summer Encore Series for June and July. Donizetti’s thrilling and trilling Anna Bolena kicks off the series. Starring the Met’s current darling, Russian soprano Anna Netrebko, Donizetti’s first international hit (1830) is the fanciful tale of Tudor royalty gone bad. Thanks to Donizetti’s mastery of theme and constant orchestral variation, the three-hour-plus score flies by, which is high praise indeed for one of these lengthy bel canto operas from the 1830s. Wrongly accused Anna must shuffle her emotions between former lover Lord Percy (tenor Stephen Costello), who shows up unexpectedly at court, and King Henry VIII (bass Ildar Abdrazakov), with whom she has never fallen in love. While David McVicar’s production, conducted by Marco Armiliato, is fairly minimal, it allows the singers to etch their characters without distraction. 6:30 p.m. Houston Marq*E Stadium 23, 7620 Katy Freeway. For information, call 713-290-1596 or visit www.fathomevents.com.
Wed., June 13, 6:30 p.m., 2012
This article appears in Jun 7-13, 2012.
