Anna Bolena is a tragic opera (tragedia lirica) in two acts composed by Gaetano Donizetti.

Felice Romani wrote the Italian libretto after Ippolito Pindemonte's Enrico VIII ossia Anna Bolena and Alessandro Pepoli's Anna Bolena, both recounting the life of Anne Boleyn, the second wife of England's King Henry VIII.

It is one of four operas by Donizetti dealing with the Tudor period in English history—in composition order, Il castello di Kenilworth (1829), Anna Bolena (1830), Maria Stuarda (named for Mary, Queen of Scots, it appeared in different forms in 1834 and 1835), and Roberto Devereux (1837, named for a putative lover of Queen Elizabeth I of England).

Anna Bolena premiered on 26 December 1830 at the Teatro Carcano in Milan, to "overwhelming success."

Weinstock notes that only after this success did Donizetti's teacher, Johann Simon Mayr, "address his former pupil as Maestro.

"[1] The composer had begun "to emerge as one of three most luminous names in the world of Italian opera",[1] alongside Bellini and Rossini.

19th century After its opening performances in Italy in 1830, Anna Bolena was first given in London at the King's Theatre on 8 July 1831.

On 30 December 1947, the opera was performed at Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona, to mark that theatre's centennial (it had opened in 1847 with Anna Bolena).

The cast was Sara Scuderi as Anna, Giulietta Simionato as Jane Seymour and Cesare Siepi as Henry VIII.

In April 1957, the opera was revived at La Scala for Maria Callas (one of the seven performances was recorded) in a lavish production directed by Luchino Visconti, with Giulietta Simionato as Jane Seymour.

[6] Several famous modern sopranos have lent their voices to the role, including Leyla Gencer, Montserrat Caballé, Marisa Galvany, Renata Scotto, Edita Gruberova and Mariella Devia.

And Anna was one of the last new roles performed by Dame Joan Sutherland, at San Francisco Opera in 1984.

While not yet part of the "standard repertory", Anna Bolena is increasingly performed today,[7] and there are several recordings.

The Vienna State Opera gave it in the Spring of 2011, with Anna Netrebko in the title role and Elīna Garanča as Giovanna Seymour.

New York's Metropolitan Opera mounted it for the first time in September 2011, opening the company's 2011–2012 season, with Netrebko and with David McVicar directing.

[8] Opera Seria UK in Manchester, England, staged Anna Bolena in 2012 as the first in their "Tudor Queens" trilogy, which continues into 2014.

[9] And the Welsh National Opera presented the trilogy between September and November 2013, in many different venues in Britain.

At the queen's request, her page Smeaton plays the harp and sings in an attempt to cheer the people present.

Henry VIII enters and tells Jane that soon she will have no rival, that the altar has been prepared for her, and that she will have husband, sceptre, and throne.

Henry VIII tells Hervey, an officer of the king, to spy on every step and every word of Anna and Percy.

Scene Three: Windsor Castle, close to the Queen's apartments Smeaton takes a locket from his breast containing Anna's portrait.

Smeaton says that it is not true, and tears open his tunic to offer his breast to the king for slaying if he is lying.

Scene Two: Antechamber leading into the hall where the Council of Peers is meeting Hervey tells courtiers that Anna is lost, because Smeaton has talked and has revealed a crime.

Hervey enters and says that the council has dissolved the royal marriage and has condemned Anna and her accomplices to death.