Review: Sondra Radvanovsky Thrills in Met ANNA BOLENA

The Met came late to Donizetti operas about British queens, when it finally mounted ANNA BOLENA mounted for Anna Netrebko in 2011. This was long after Beverly Sills made her deal with the devil, trading her voice for the cover of Time Magazine, by singing Anne Boleyn (ANNA BOLENA), Mary Queen of Scots (MARIA STUARDA), and Elizabeth I (ROBERTO DEVEREUX) at New York City Opera. The Met is finally getting around to mounting its own take on the operas this season--the so-called Tudor Trilogy, though the composer didn't create them as such--not for Netrebko (as originally rumored) but for American Sondra Radvanovsky. As Anna, she sings as if her life depended on it, in a thrilling, go-for-broke performance.

The opera (in one of the Met's most visually boring productions, from Sir David McVicar with set design by Robert Jones) begins with Anna already doomed, though it hasn't sunk in. Although she had given birth to the future Elizabeth I, this was followed by three miscarriages: In short, she has failed to produce a male heir for Henry VIII (a vibrant, big-voiced turn by bass Ildar Abdrazakov, looking very much like a Holbein portrait) in a timely manner and that could only mean one thing. The rumors are already flying about who has replaced her in the king's bed, but she still doesn't quite believe it's time for her to pack an overnight case and leave town in a hurry. Anna's replacement is Giovanna (Jane) Seymour, her own lady-in-waiting, sung by the wonderful mezzo Jamie Barton, who didn't wait for long: Henry married her just one day after Anna's execution for "treason."

Of the three "Tudor queens," BOLENA seems the most demure despite its overpacked plotting, but it certainly has its share of gorgeous music, which amply showcase the daring duo, Radvanovsky and Barton. Having heard them in a broadcast of Bellini's NORMA from the San Francisco Opera on October 3, just before the BOLENA performance, I can honestly say that they are a superb team and I hope the Met gets them back together--and sooner rather than later.

While the work technically comes under the bel canto banner, Radvanovsky certainly isn't afraid to push and put some metal in her voice--soaring over the orchestra, sometimes to almost a shout, as she brings out the anguish in Anna's untenable situation with the king or when Giovanna admits her true role in the drama. However, she easily goes to the opposite extreme, with gorgeous pianissimi. And she backs up her vocal skills with a thoughtful performance that hooks the audience, as she slides from sadness and confusion, early in the opera, into madness before her death. Her "Coppia iniqua" at the end of the opera was stunning.

As for Barton, her sympathetic portrayal of Seymour shows her to be as much of a victim of Henry's quest for power as Anna and she had the audience from the moment she opened her mouth. When I recently interviewed her, she said that bel canto music is a somewhat-daunting challenge for her, compared to Wagner, which she considers the equivalent of mother's milk. If it is, she shows no signs of effort, with her glorious, soaring, plush voice, as she showed in "Ah! pensate che rivolti".

Another of the evening's pleasures was the mezzo Tamara Mumford, in the pants role of Mark Smeaton, a court musician with a secret crush on the queen, who is tortured into falsely confessing an affair with her as part of Henry's campaign of treachery. Her mournful cabaletta, "É sgombro il loco," was a model of flexibility. Tenor Stephen Costello improved as the opera went on, more involved than in other roles, while bass-baritone David Crawford did well as Anna's brother, Lord Rochefort.

The Met Orchestra and Chorus under Marco Armiliato moved briskly through the complex score, giving firm support to the principals, but it was Radvanovsky's night to shine--and shine she did. I can't wait for MARIA STUARDA.

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